Discovering Danger
by Me Llamo Berry
Summary: What happens when Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Draco and a 3rd year Slytherin get thrown together to read a few books? Canon meets Dangerverse. Dangerverse belongs to whydoyouneedtoknow
1. Prologue

In a world separate from our own, a dark-haired man snuck into a room that his companions usually tried to keep him away from. He smirked, knowing that they would be surprised at his newest idea. He bent over two books, muttering to himself every so often.

If one were to look at those two books, it would be quite the surprise that one was labeled 'Canon' and the other was labeled 'Dangerverse.'

"ALEXANDER SLYTHERIN!" shouted an angry female voice, "JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE HARRY POTTER UNIVERSES!"

The man, Alex, winced at the sound. "I was just planning another, Weena," He called in hopes of deterring her from her wrath. Then, he groaned and let his head hit the books when he realized what he said. "3...2...1..." He mumbled.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOUNG MAN?" 'Weena' screamed, "If we weren't already dead, I'd kill you!"

"I'm sorry," Alex mumbled through the books, a hard task indeed.

"Calm down, Rowena, I want to hear his idea before you punish him," another woman inserted as they neared the room.

"At least he didn't call you Gaga, Helga!" Rowena steamed. Normally Rowena Ravenclaw did not get that angry about that nickname. After watching the final battle in the Canon universe, anyone would be on edge, however.

"Why don't you just calm down and hear what he has to say," a deep voice rumbled.

Rowena grumbled her assent. When she entered the room, she sent a glare towards Alex. He winced and slunk deeper into his chair.

Within a few minutes several people had entered the room and were looking at Alex with various expressions, ranging from amusement, to boredom, to anticipation. After all, Alex was the resident Slytherin and the one with the most cunning.

Alex glowered at the one with an amused look before smiling deviously. "How many times have you been thrown in the lake, Paul?" he asked innocently and received a glare in return. He smirked in satisfaction.

"Alex..." Rowena growled warningly, "I'm not in the mood for games!" She raised her wand threateningly.

The man nodded quickly as he pondered how to put his idea. A few wrong wordings, and not everyone would like the idea. It had to be just right.

He tapped the book labeled Canon. "I've been thinking... While they've learned a lot throughout the years, I don't like what they haven't learned. They're missing some of the essentials. Ron, Harry, and Hermione still are somewhat biased against certain things. They aren't... loose. Draco never learned that the Dark side was bad. Neville never gained confidence. Meghan _Freeman_ was a little Slytherin no one noticed. Luna was often misunderstood, and no one cared. Ginny was over-protected by the rest of them. I'm not happy about that at all. I think we should create a new universe. We take the Pride members from Canon, stick them in a room, and make them read Dangerverse," he finished, looking around at the others.

Paul raised his eyebrows. "That's actually... reasonable." He faked shock. Alex stuck out his tongue like the mature man he was.

His father, Godric Gryffindor, rolled his eyes. "Paul," he rumbled warningly. Paul pouted and Godric turned to Alex. "That's a good idea. When do you think we should start?"

Alex tilted his head thoughtfully. "I think just before fifth year. It's the perfect time to do some interfering. They aren't innocent little children, nor are they hardened by too many trials... yet."

Paul grinned, "Maybe they can even read the Dangerverse spinoffs."

Godric exchanged looks with Rowena and Helga as their children started discussing it, though they sounded more like they were arguing.

* * *

"HARRY'S HERE!" Startled, Hermione looked up from the book she was reading before grinning. She was just about to go greet him when a sudden _whoosh_ of air took hold of her... and she was no longer holding the book, let alone at Grimmauld Place.

Meanwhile, Ron was playing chess against his sister. At the shout, both stood up and knocked their chairs over in their hurry, but then wind came and took them away, too.

Mrs. Weasley was sobbing as she hugged Harry excitedly. He was beginning to feel squished when a rush of cold air took hold of him and he wasn't so squished anymore.

Luna was working on a painting in her room when she heard the air come. She waited for it to come patiently. And then, she, too, was no longer at her house.

Draco Malfoy chuckled to himself as he read the _Daily Prophet_. "Still don't believe Potter!" He was laughing too hard to notice when he was no longer in his own room.

Neville knelt on the dirt as he dug out the weeds that were ruining his precious plants. He didn't notice when the wind picked up, but he definitely noticed when the weed he was tugging disappeared.

Meghan Freeman sighed to herself. Her mum was so stubborn. She never told her daughter who her father was! Meghan crossed her arms and tried not to pout, but she ended up pouting anyways, only to look up in a completely strange room.

Malfoy sprang up suddenly. "OY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM!" he shouted, pointing at Hermione.

Harry rubbed his ears. "Um... Malfoy? I don't think you're in your room anymore."

Malfoy glared at Harry before he turned and noticed Luna regarding him with a half-smile. "Hello, Loony," he sneered.

Luna smiled wistfully. "Hello, Draco," she answered politely, to his shock. Draco stared at her, jaw dropped.

Neville stood up and brushed his jeans off before heading over to the other Gryffindors, feeling that he would be safer with them than by himself. He recognized Luna and Draco, but the other he did not. He found his eyes drawn to her.

She joined the Gryffindors. "Meghan Freeman, Slytherin, 2nd year... wait, 3rd year now."

Hermione started examining the room, unable to stand the idle chat.

Ron had choked at Slytherin but then shut up at the glare that Meghan gave him. Harry frowned. She was oddly reminiscent of someone he knew.

"My mother was a Muggleborn and I don't know who my father is," she added forcefully, trying not to laugh at the look on Draco's face. She inched closer to Neville. The poor boy was flabbergasted and confused.

Hermione was no longer paying attention; she had found a stack of books. The first was called "Living with Danger." She flipped it over.

_Lone wolf. Dream-seer. Bright child. Scarred child. Singer. Prisoner. Dancer child. Dragon child. Eight semi-ordinary people. One extraordinary family, and how they became one. Pre-Hogwarts story. First of the Dangerverse._

Hermione frowned then her mouth opened in a small 'o'. "Come here!" she called, "Yes, you too, Draco," she added at the look on his face.

Ginny eagerly looked over Hermione's shoulder to see what she had. Her eyebrows shot up at the description.

Draco came but he grumbled about it at the same time. He decided to stand next to Luna. She smiled at him and ran her hand over his hair.

"Your hair should be more loose," she informed him matter-of-factly. Draco merely nodded, too shocked to come up with something mean.

Hermione was flushed with excitement. "Do you realize what's going on?" she asked, words moving out of her mouth fast. 

She frowned when when she was met with shakes of the head and a case or two of eye-rolling.

The bright one huffed before continuing. "There's different universes out there. There's probably about a thousand or more surrounding Harry and us. This book is one of them. I think we're meant to change our universe with this knowledge!" she whispered.

Draco snorted. "Then tell me why I'm here!"

Neville spoke up, "W-well, maybe we're all important in the u-universe in the b-book d-describes, so w-we all n-need to hear it."

Meghan smiled brightly at him as Hermione beamed.

"Of course!" she answered proudly.

Suddenly, a note appeared in Ron's hand. He stared at it incredulously before reading it aloud.

_Well done, Neenie._

He paused as Hermione turned a deep red.

_Knew I could count on you to explain it so that I don't have to. Same with you, Captain... I mean Neville. _

Neville blinked in surprise. 

_You are entirely correct. This room will provide everything you ask for. Including food. It is merely a dream after all._

Draco choked. "I'm dreaming of GRYFFINDORS?"

_A very long dream. But still a dream... I should stop now shouldn't I? Oh, and Draco? Stop freaking out and just get along with them._

Meghan covered her mouth to hide her giggles.

Ginny grinned. "Well that settle's it!" She took the book. "We should all take turns reading it, and it should be boy-girl. I'll go first, Harry you can go after me."

He nodded. "Ron and Hermione after me."

Ron sighed. "Meghan can go after me."

Meghan bounced up and down in happiness. "I want Neville to go after me!"

Neville looked surprised. "I guess Luna is after me, then... Ma-Draco, and then we start over?" He looked to Ginny for confirmation. The red-head nodded.


	2. March 15, 1982, Surrey

Harry looked at the ceiling. "Er-," he started, unsure how to go about things, "can we have couches or comfy chairs that can seat 8 people, some nice decorations representing each Hogwart's house," he didn't want to insult Luna, Ma-Draco, and Meghan after all, "some snacks and something to drink, please?" he finished tentatively.

To his surprise, everything he requested appeared. All eight children gazed around in awe.

Ron practically tackled the food. He then leaned back into a couch next to Hermione, sighing happily.

Draco immediately claimed the green chair. "I want a blanket." Nothing happened. He growled as the others tried to stifle their laughter.

Hermione was the only one in control enough to speak to him, "I think you need to be polite and say please."

Draco glared at her. "Blanket, please?" The blanket appeared and covered all of him. No one could see him in the tangled blanket.

This time, no one could stop laughing. He fought the blanket off.

"Why don't we just get this over with?" he growled.

Harry sat down next to Ginny on the other couch as she shrugged and picked up the book. "Living with Danger," she began.

Hermione frowned as a thought occurred to her. "It can't be..." she muttered to herself.

No one noticed as the red head continued, "March 15, 1982, Surrey."

Ron stared at her. "That's right after You-know-who disappeared!" he exclaimed. Harry blinked and wondered why the story began there. Wouldn't the story start when he arrived at Hogwarts?

_**Happy damn birthday to me. **_

**_23 years old and nothing left to live for_.**

"Ouch," Ron inserted.

Harry shrugged. "It felt like that every birthday until Hogwarts." Draco gaped at him, surprised.

**A passerby dropped a coin at his feet, apparently mistaking him for a homeless person. He was about to call after her, but thought better of it.**

_**What the hell. 50p is 50p.**_

**He picked up the coin and pocketed it.**

"Ha. At least I have money," Draco boasted, "Unlike _other_ people." He sent a self-satisfied smirk to the Weasleys.

Ron clenched his fists, but didn't attack him. That was only because Hermione had a hand on his arm.

_**This time last year, I had friends. I had what amounted to a family. I had work – it was dangerous, sure, but what isn't? I had a purpose in life.**_

"I want to hug this poor person now!" Meghan sighed, "I want to help him! …or her," she added after a moment of thought.

_**And then, in the space of two days – gone. All of it. Three people I loved dead. Another one a traitor and locked up forever. And the last one hidden away where no one will find him. **_

Hermione's eyes widened as she realized who it had to be. Her eyes flickered over to Harry.

_**No one including me.**_

**He stared up through the leafless branches of the tree at the overcast sky.**

_**Why am I even bothering anymore? **_

_**Tomorrow, I'll call the local authorities just before sunset and report a rabid animal on my property. Then I'll leave the door open. **_

_**End of problem. **_

_**End of everything.**_

Ginny paused, having read ahead. Harry poked her. "Continue, this guy seriously needs help!"

Meghan had her hands pressed to her mouth. "He wants to commit suicide?" she whimpered. Neville reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly. He didn't know what else to do.

* * *

**This was definitely not one of Remus Lupin's better days.**

"WHAT?" everyone in the room exclaimed. Ginny covered her mouth to hide her amusement at the identical reactions.

**But fate, as it so often does, was about to play a trick on him...**

"Thank Merlin," Harry breathed.

* * *

**Having made a decision, he felt a little better. He sat up and looked around. Two tiny children in hooded coats chased one another around the nearby swing set, giggling. A young woman sat on a bench nearby, reading.**

"Aw... Sounds cute," Hermione cooed.

_**They're so little. They can't be more than two. Probably not even that.**_

_**Harry's age.**_

Draco rolled his eyes. "It's always about you, Potter, of course."

Harry grumbled under his breath. "I don't WANT it to be," he informed Draco.

The pale boy gaped. "What?"

**His heart clenched painfully. No one would tell him where the boy was. The official story was that it would be better for everyone if Harry grew up fostered by Muggles, **

Harry snorted. "Anything would be better than that."

**without contact with the wizarding world, without knowing that he was a celebrity and a hero. But Remus knew better.**

_**They're afraid of me. They're afraid I might try to take him, and then lose control one night and bite him or even kill him. And the worst of it is, they're right on both counts. I'd take him in a heartbeat. And there's no guarantee he'd be safe with me.**_

Harry grinned sadly. "After I found out that he knew my father, I always wondered why he never tried to find me..."

**He sighed as the shrieking from the playground rose in volume. _No, I'd better just leave well __enough alone. I'm sure he's happy where he is._**

Harry shook his head again. "I wasn't, Remus."

Draco was staring at Harry as if he had ten heads.

_**Wherever that may be.**_

**"Neenie, no!" **

Hermione groaned at her old nickname. Draco noticed and was confused.

**shouted the young woman at one of the children. There was no telling which, since both their faces were hidden by their hoods. "No pushing! Play nice with Harry!"**

Hermione couldn't help it, she stifled a giggle.

**Remus sat up straight, every nerve alert. _Oh my God._**

**Then he forced himself to calm down. _No. It can't be. It has to be a coincidence. It's not that uncommon a name..._**

"And yet, you're famous," Ron laughed.

**But it had got him thinking, and he couldn't seem to stop.**

"Sounds like Hermione," Ron teased her.

_**Lily had a sister, a Muggle sister. Petunia, I think. It's just possible he's with her. Lily's sacrifice would have left blood magic traces. If anyone could bring them to full strength, it would be Dumbledore. Which would make his aunt's home the safest place for him.**_

Harry scowled in remembrance of his years with the Dursleys.

_**Possibly. I just wish I felt better about Lily's sister. If I remember correctly, she didn't think much of magic. Or of Lily.**_

_**But she wouldn't harm a child because of that. Would she?**_

"I wouldn't put it past her..." the boy-who-lived muttered.

_**I have to find out where she lives. If she doesn't have Harry, maybe she knows where he is... I think she might even live somewhere in Surrey, that's a start at least...**_

Harry hissed through his teeth. "Yessssss, find me!"

**One of the children pushed the other one down. The fallen one started to cry.**

**"Oh, it's ok, sweetheart," cooed the young woman, hurrying to the child's side. "Don't cry, Greeneyes, it's just a little bump, right?"**

Luna smiled in her way. "It must be Harry, only he would be called Greeneyes like that."

_**Green eyes? Oh God...**_

**Remus was on his feet without knowing it as the young woman gently pulled down the child's hood, exposing black, tousled hair and bright green eyes in a tear-streaked face.**

_**James' face. And Lily's eyes.**_

"Everyone tells me that," Harry complained.

**He was running toward the child, unable to stop himself, knowing he must look completely mad, and not caring at all...**

"Aw..." Meghan cooed.

Ginny smirked at Harry before she continued. "I just might have to call you Greeneyes now."

Harry groaned.

**"Mooey!" the little boy squealed. His face lit up, and he lifted his arms in a "pick-me-up" gesture. Remus snatched him up and held him close, reveling in the feel of trusting arms around his neck, in the scent of the boy's hair and skin, in having the last person in the world he cared for close to his heart once more.**

Meghan grinned. "Aw... That's so cute."

_**And I'll never let him go again...**_

"That would lead to some complications," Ron laughed.

**He suddenly realized that the young woman was staring at him. _Of course she's staring, she's __probably Harry's foster mother or his aunt or something and she wants to know who you are and what the hell you think you're doing!_**

"Probably 'bout right, but that's definitely not my aunt," Harry answered the book absentmindedly. He was too busy being happy that he might know Remus before Hogwarts.

**"I'm so sorry," he began, turning to her with Harry squirming happily in his arms. "I was a friend of Harry's father in school, I haven't seen him in a while..."**

**"I married you last night," she whispered.**

Hermione wished she could hide. Only her sister would have enough tact to say that.

**"_What?_"**

**Her eyes went very round. "Oh my Lord. Oh my Lord, I did _not _just say that out loud. I did _not_. I did _not_. I did, didn't I."**

Harry laughed. "I think I like her."

Ron snickered. "That was very tactful of her, too."

**"Yes, you did."**

**"Oh my Lord. I'm so sorry. What a way to start a conversation. Please, can we start over?"**

Draco stared at the book oddly. "How do you start a conversation over? You can't take back what you said unless you use a memory spell."

Ron laughed. "It's just an expression thing. It means she wants to forget what she had said earlier."

Both boys froze when they realized that they just exchanged dialogue without insults. Everyone else tried not to laugh at their expressions.

**"I'd love to," Remus said, looking more closely at her. She had quite a lot of curly brown hair, as did the little girl holding onto her pant leg and regarding him solemnly, though the effect was a little spoiled by the thumb in her mouth. The girl was adorable, he decided, and the woman rather lovely, in a bookish sort of way...**

Draco frowned. "Sounds like Hermione."

**"I had a dream about you last night," the woman said, getting herself under control. "Even though, as far as I know, we have never met in the flesh. Am I right?"**

**"I think I would remember it if I had met you before, Miss..."**

**"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please, call me Danger. It's my nickname, I answer to it faster than anything else."**

Meghan stared at the book in shock, remembering stories her mom had told her about a friend named Danger.

**"Well, if we're on nicknames, please, call me Moony." He transferred Harry to his left arm and shook hands.**

**"Is that what Harry said, then? I was wondering." Danger gave a lopsided smile and bent down to the little girl. "Neenie, this is Mr. Moony." She straightened up. "My sister, Neenie."**

**"Hello, Neenie," Remus said, smiling at her. Neenie gave a tiny wave with the hand that wasn't partially in her mouth. "Your sister?"**

Hermione couldn't help but smile at how cute she was, but no one seemed to realize that it was her. She let out a slow breath. And hopefully for her, it would stay that way. After all, how long could her sister stay in the story?

**"I know, it's a big age difference, everyone thinks she's mine, but no, definitely my sister."**

**"So how do you know Harry?" Remus asked, sitting down with the child in question snuggling down on his lap.**

**"He lives up the street from us a little ways with his aunt and uncle. You said you were a friend of his father's?"**

**"Yes."**

**"May I ask, then?"**

**"Ask what happened to his parents?"**

**"Yes."**

**Remus took a deep breath, feeling the weight of Harry against his ribs. All the nightmarish images of the last six months flooded through his head, starting with the moment he had heard the news, and not from anyone he knew, anyone in the Order, no, just some random witch on the street, who had shouted it out to him when she saw him coming...**

**"They were murdered," he said. "Betrayed by a friend and killed by a lunatic."**

"A lunatic?" Draco asked incredulously.

**"And his mother threw herself in front of him, to save him," Danger murmured as if to herself. "A flash of green light and a rushing sound like death on invisible wings..."**

Hermione stifled a squeal. Her sister was magic too! That was the only explanation. But then... She groaned silently as she remembered past fun she had.

Luna looked at her from her chair very near Draco's. "Do not be ashamed of who you are," she murmured to Hermione.

**Remus stared at her. "How do you know that?" he demanded.**

**She met his eyes openly, and Remus saw something he'd never seen before – pain, grief, loss, all there, and all equal to his own.**

"Wow..." Neville breathed.

**"I dreamed it," she said softly. "I dreamed it all. You, and him, and this. Please, tell me something, and tell me the truth."**

**"If I can, I will."**

**"Is magic real? Because I dreamed of magic when I dreamed of you, and you're real, and here in front of me. So please tell me."**

"Yep, magic is real, Danger," Hermione beamed.

**Harry squirmed. "Down, Mooey," he requested. Remus let him slide to the ground, still looking at Danger. _Should I tell her? It's against the law, but she seems to know already..._**

**"Yes," he said finally. _She deserves the truth, if only for the pain in her face._**

Ron winced. "It must be horrible..."

**"Thank God," Danger breathed. "There was no other explanation."**

**"For what?"**

**Her eyes closed for a moment. "I was at school. I went to get Neenie from day care, then I went home. And there were my parents, lying in the living room, dead. They had these expressions on their faces..." She broke off. "I can't describe it."**

Hermione covered her face to hide her tears. In this universe... her parents... dead...

**"Pain," Remus said, thinking of the Longbottoms. "As if they died in pain."**

Neville paled at the thought of his parents.

**"Yes." Danger's voice choked. "They never did anything wrong. Why them? _Why?_"**

Hermione hid her tears, rather glad that she wasn't reading this particular chapter.

**"The Dark Ones lost their leader just half a year ago," Remus said quietly. "You saw it in your dreams. They're trying frantically to stay out of prison, but some of them can't control themselves. Please believe me when I say that I wish I could have stopped them."**

**"I believe you," Danger said with her face in her hands. "And thank you." She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and went on. "So, after that, I got custody of Neenie, and I got a job, and life went on. My parents were both professionals, they were fairly well off, so we have a little saved up to help eke out my salary. But then I started dreaming. Pictures, words, and finally, last night, a story."**

**"Yes, you said a wedding?"**

Draco snickered. "She said way more than that, Moony." Harry raised an eyebrow at the use of the nickname.

**Danger smiled wanly. "Said more than that, didn't I? Yes, it was a wedding. I was the bride, and I realized I had no idea who any of the people were. Except my maid of honor, that was Aletha, my best friend when I was little. I haven't seen her in years, I wonder how she's doing... anyway, I got to the altar, I looked at the groom – and it was you. And please don't take this wrong, but if you kiss in real life like you did in the dream... damn."**

**"Thank you," Remus said. "I'm flattered. I think."**

**"Oh, it's a compliment, trust me," Danger said. "And I was so happy to see you that I forgot I didn't know anything about you – and suddenly I did know all about you. Everything."**

**"Everything?" _As in, everything?_**

"Uh-oh..." Harry muttered.

**"Yes. Everything. Like how you have a hard time getting a job, because you have to be, shall we say, 'away' for a couple days every month, and everyone in the magical world would know why and be afraid, and no one in the rest of the world will put up with it, even if they don't know why."**

"Werewolf," Draco snickered, only to be met with 7 pillows.

**Remus shook his head slowly, bemused. "You know what I am, and all about me, and you're still sitting here beside me?"**

"That's what I would ask," Hermione agreed.

**"Not everyone's a bigot," said Danger. "And besides, Harry likes you. I trust that kid's judgment."**

**"He liked Sirius, too," Remus said quietly. "It was Peter he wouldn't go near. He may not be the best judge of character."**

Harry smirked. "I guess I was a good judge of character then."

Neville frowned, a bit confused at this point.

**"I'm sorry?"**

**"A couple of men I knew."**

**"Friends of yours?"**

**"At one time." Remus hoped she would be able to tell from his tone that he _really_ didn't want to talk about this.**

**Danger was silent for a moment. "Do you believe me?" she finally asked. "About the dreams?"**

**"I don't know. You could have found out what you know somewhere else, I guess. Though it seems unlikely. Let's say I remain unconvinced at the moment."**

**"I think I can convince you."**

**"How?"**

**"Ask me something. Something you think no one would know."**

**"Something I think no one would know." Remus thought for a moment. _All right, classic identification question._ "What's my middle name?"**

**"John," Danger said quickly. "Remus John Lupin."**

**Remus stared at her for a moment. _And I never told her any of that... just my nickname, that's all..._**

**"Mine's Gertrude," Danger said quietly. "Gertrude Kelly Granger. Convinced now?"**

"Granger..." Draco said slowly, looking at Hermione. "Is she related?"

Hermione gave a small grin. "My sister."

Ron choked. "You're Neenie?"

She rolled her eyes as she nodded.

"Wait... where's your sister now?" Ginny asked curiously.

Hermione shrugged. "Right after I got my Hogwarts letter she decided she wanted to study in America. I'm not quite sure exactly where she is now. And she's still muggle," she added.

**"Yes," Remus said slowly. "Yes, I think I am."**

**"Would you like to come over for some tea, then?"**

**"Come over?"**

**"To my house. It's not far. And there are a few things I want to tell you. About the dreams. Things I think you need to know."**

**"If you're not busy..."**

**"I have the day off at work, so my only job is watching Harry until his aunt and uncle get back. And he's a great kid, so no, I'm not busy. It's just a few streets this way..."**

* * *

**The little house looked even more inviting when the skies opened as they had been threatening to do all day, and Remus was obliged to stay "at least until it stops raining." Danger – Remus found himself unable to think of her as Gertrude – changed Harry's nappy, then turned on the TV for the children, and put the kettle on to boil.**

**"The dreams are always similar, if not exactly the same," she said without preamble, sitting down at the kitchen table. "Cacophony, madness. Blurs of color and sound. But I can get bits and pieces here and there. Lots of orange, but always associated with the word red. That confuses me a lot. When is orange red?"**

"When is orange red?" Ron frowned.

"When yellow is blond, of course," Draco joked. Ginny's eyebrow's shot up.

**Remus was taking notes on a pad he'd noticed on her desk. _When is orange red?_**

**"Along with the orange, or the red, or whatever, flashes of black and flashes of brown. And then it's as if someone shouts a couplet in my ear.**

**"_Black to red and red to brown_**

**"_Shall truly bring the darkness down._**

"I wonder what that means... and I hope its true," Harry murmured to himself.

**"But I don't know what it means," she finished in frustration, lightly pounding the table. "Then I start getting actual pictures. Four boys. One of them is you. Then two with dark hair – one of those looks like Harry – and one kind of mousy-looking one."**

**"My best friends at school," Remus said. "We called ourselves the Marauders. The boy who looks like Harry is his father, James, the other dark one is Sirius Black, and the mousy boy is Peter Pettigrew."**

The 'trio' tensed at the mention of the traitor.

**"Thank you," Danger said in relief. "Having names makes everything easier. I see James, then, with a red-haired girl, flashes of dates, a wedding, a baby – Harry – and you and Black and Pettigrew around them, doing the things friends do. And then it all goes awful." She shuddered. "One of you goes over to the Dark. To some horrid scary guy who looks like a snake gone wrong."**

Everyone howled with laughter. "It suits him!" Neville laughed, falling off of his chair. Draco nodded as he covered his mouth in order to gain a bit of control.

**"Sirius," Remus said bitterly.**

**"No. Pettigrew."**

Meghan squeaked in surprise.

Neville's eyebrow's shot up as he realized what that would mean.

**"What?" Remus jerked his head up from his notes to stare at her.**

**"That's what I see," Danger said. "It's definitely Pettigrew talking with the nasty one. Pettigrew telling him where to find them. Pettigrew turning into a rat. Can he do that?"**

**He almost didn't want to believe her, but her last comment clinched it. _No one _besides the Marauders had known about that.**

_**And I'm the last Marauder. **_

**About that, at least, she had to be telling the truth.**

_**And if she's telling the truth about that, what about the rest?**_

**"Yes. He can."**

**"He did it the day everyone thinks he died," Danger said, her eyes almost closed. "I always see it in slow motion. He shouts something at Black, he pulls out this little stick behind his back," she shuddered, "cuts off his own finger with it – I don't know how, or why – "**

**"A finger was the most they ever found of him," Remus said in a deadly quiet voice. Too much was making sense all of a sudden.**

"Obviously," Meghan said dryly.

**"And then the street behind him just explodes, and he shrinks down to rat size and shape and runs away while the smoke is clearing. And Black looks at the place where he was, and he starts laughing. And then I drift into a kind of foggy place, and I hear a poem, repeated over and over again until I wake up with it drumming in my head."**

Hermione winced. "Ouch."

**She clutched her hair melodramatically, then smiled apologetically. "I always thought that was just an expression, until I started dreaming like this. I finally wrote it down, and then it left me alone. I think you should see it."**

**"I think I should too," Remus said grimly. Several loose parts of his world were starting to fall into place. Specifically, the "Sirius would never betray Lily and James" part, and the "Peter doesn't strike me as the martyr type" part.**

**"Here it is," Danger said, handing him a sheet of paper, half-covered with lines of neat handwriting. "I did a clean copy once I was sure I had it right."**

_**Black to red and red to brown**_

_**Shall truly bring the darkness down. **_

"There's that couplet again!" Draco exclaimed, forgetting completely he was supposed to hate the others in the room. The book was just too engaging, even though it was the first chapter. Not to mention, he found out things that he didn't even know! He frowned, thinking for a moment. Maybe... it wouldn't so bad to be friends with Gryffindors, after all.

_**Find the red and find the rat**_

_**Whose cunning plot did catch no cat.**_

"Find the red... and find the rat..." Hermione muttered.

Ginny grinned. "Red means red hair!" she almost shouted.

Ron hit his head. "Of course, we had Pettigrew the whole time!"

_**Trust thy heart and try the grim,**_

"Trust your feelings, Luke," Hermione quoted.

Harry grinned, pleased to figure out a part. "Grim is a dog. And Sirius turns into a huge black dog."

_**And truth shall bring new life to him.**_

Meghan covered her mouth as she squeaked. Neville looked over at her in concern. "My mama's name means 'truth,'" she told him.

_**The wolf that runs in brightest dark**_

"Full moon, of course," Ginny inserted.

_**Of fear in danger strikes no spark,**_

"Why wouldn't he scare Danger?" Ron wondered.

_**For she is maid of warrior soul,**_

"Gertrude means warrior maid," Hermione informed everyone.

_**And by her touch his mind is whole. **_

"That's impossible!" Neville exclaimed before looking embarrassed that he said something.

_**When they who saved the savior twine**_

At this, Ron and Hermione shouted, "YES!" at the same time.

Harry looked at them bemusedly.

"You're the savior, duh, they're going to save you!" Ron told him excitedly.

A slow grin spread itself across Harry's face.

_**The freshest blood with founders' line,**_

"Wait... what?" Harry scratched his head. "I can't be a descendent of a Founder, can I?"

_**Then has the age of hope begun,**_

_**And peace comes to the man who won.**_

Ginny smiled, "I think I like that better than the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry groaned. "Not another nickname..."

**"That couplet from before, that's repeated in here," Remus said as he scanned the lines.**

**Danger nodded. "I know. It must be important somehow."**

Draco frowned and gazed at Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione on two couches near each other. He started laughing and refused to tell anyone why.

**"But we don't understand it at the moment, so let's look at the first quatrain, after the couplet."**

**"Sounds good."**

**The somewhat unlikely pair bent over their work.**

Ginny grinned. "Well, that was very interesting. I think I'll like this universe better than ours."

"Neenie?" Ron asked tentatively.

Hermione sighed, "Yes, Ronald?"

"Can I call you that? It's easier," he added at her glare.

"Fine, all of you can call me that, but not in front of anyone else!" Neenie glared at Draco in particular.


	3. Interpretations

Everyone adjusted themselves for a moment as the whole chapter sunk in. Draco gazed about the room in consideration.

Harry sighed as he picked up the book. "Interpretations," he read.

Ron punched the air. "Now we'll know what it means!"

**Remus read the lines slowly to himself, impressing them carefully on his memory.**

_**Find the red and find the rat**_

_**Whose cunning plot did catch no cat.**_

_**Trust thy heart and try the grim,**_

_**And truth shall bring new life to him.**_

**The teakettle whistled. Danger jumped up to tend to it. "Anything?" she asked as she lifted the kettle carefully off the heat and poured the steaming water into the pot.**

**"Not yet."**

**"_Trust thy heart and try the grim..." The grim what? That doesn't make any sense, grim's not a noun, it's an adjective... unless..._**

_**Unless it's a proper noun.**_

Harry paused. "I only connected Padfoot with the Grim 'cause he scared me the first time I saw him."

**"I think I have something."**

**"So tell." Danger handed him a mug. "Do you take sugar, or milk or anything?"**

**"Sugar if you have it. Have you ever heard of a Grim?"**

"Who hasn't?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Muggles," Hermione shot at him quickly, without malice, but rather with a lecturing undertone. Ron smirked at the thought of someone else on the receiving end of her lectures.

**"A Grim, as in a thing?" Danger had her head in the pantry. "Vaguely. Some kind of spirit, like a big black dog, I think. Isn't it supposed to be bad luck?"**

**"Yes. Another name for it is a Padfoot."**

"Or Snuffles," Harry smirked.

**"Padfoot?" Danger sat back down, placing the sugar bowl on the table. "That sounds familiar. From the dreams. It was one of your nicknames. For the boy who could turn into the dog. For Sirius." Comprehension dawned on her face, and she planted her finger on the word in the poem. "This means him, doesn't it?"**

**"It may well. The rest of the line is phrased as a command. _Trust thy heart and try the Grim._"**

**Danger blew on her tea. "'Trust your feelings, Luke,'" she quoted. "Or rather, Moony. What does your heart tell you?"**

"You and your sister are a lot alike, Neenie," Ginny commented.

**"That Sirius would never have been a traitor," Remus said bitterly. "That I was a fool not to question, not to ask. They just threw him into Azkaban, he never even had a trial – ah!"**

Neenie slapped her head. "Of course."

**Danger jumped. "What?"**

**"_Try the Grim._ Try him, as in, give him a trial. The kind he never had."**

**"What kind of laws do you people have?" Danger asked, shaking her head.**

"Sensible ones."

Luna poked Draco."You need to stop thinking for your father, and start thinking for yourself," she told him cryptically.

Draco eyed her in shock, realizing that that was exactly what he wanted to do. He just didn't know how...

**Remus groaned. "The evidence was overwhelming against him. And we were still in the middle of a brutal war, with measures taken everywhere that shouldn't have been. So the man in charge of the case decided he'd expedite things, and I was too wrapped up in my own grief to notice, or care..."**

**"You can't blame yourself," Danger said quietly, putting her hand on top of his. "What matters now is righting the wrong, not assigning blame for it. There's still hope, isn't there? Look at the next line. _And truth shall bring new life to him._ If we can bring the truth out in the open, wouldn't he be released?"**

**"The problem is, there's no evidence that he didn't kill all those people, and every indication that he did. And all the evidence points to him being the betrayer." _How could I have forgotten? Dream or no dream, it can't have been anyone but him..._ "He was the only one who _could_ have betrayed Lily and James."**

Ginny leaned on Harry. "No he wasn't," she muttered.

**"Why the only one? Isn't everyone who knew where they were suspect?"**

**"Sirius was the only one who knew. Or rather, the only one who could tell other people. They were under a spell called the Fidelius Charm. Sirius was the key to that spell – "**

**"The Secret-Keeper," Danger interrupted.**

**"Yes. How do – of course, you dreamed it."**

**"Yes, I dreamed the Secret-Keeper," Danger said, her eyes half-lidding and her voice falling into a monotone. "I dreamed the Secret-Keeper and the Dark Lord. They were alone together. They spoke."**

Neville leaned forward, eager to listen.

**Her voice changed, and Remus bit back an exclamation. She sounded exactly like Peter, like Peter at his whiniest.**

Ron growled. "I want to kill that rat."

**"My Lord, it has happened – the Potters have made me their Secret-Keeper..."**

**"Well done, Wormtail," said a strangely high, cold voice through Danger's mouth. "You had no trouble convincing the cur it was his own idea to switch you, then?"**

"WHAT?" everyone screamed.

Harry growled. "The cur?" After a deep breath, he continued.

**"None, my Lord. He sees me as weak and foolish, he would never believe such a clever idea was mine..."**

**"You _are_ weak and foolish, Wormtail," said the cold voice in tones of amusement. "But not as foolish as your former friends, who continue to hold out vain hopes of my defeat. You will be rewarded for this, I promise you..."**

Everyone was staring at the book. "That is entirely too creepy," Neville whispered.

**Danger's eyes closed entirely, then shot open as she gasped for breath. "What was that?" she coughed.**

**"You looked as if you were in a trance," Remus said quietly as everything fell into place in his mind. "And you told me exactly what I needed to know."**

**"Are you all right?" Danger asked, getting her breathing under control.**

**"Just angry." His hand tightened around the mug, ignoring the heat of the liquid inside. "Very angry. And perhaps a little bitter."**

**"Why?"**

**"They changed Secret-Keepers. They used Peter instead of Sirius. And I didn't know. They didn't tell me. There's only one reason they wouldn't have told me."**

"Aw... I wish I could hug him now," Meghan sighed, settling for the nearest person, who happened to be Neville. He stiffened in shock, but relaxed after a moment.

**"They thought it was you," Danger whispered. "Oh God, I'm so sorry."**

**"It's not your fault..."**

**"I know, I'm just... damn, why did I ever have to get mixed up in this?" Danger buried her head in her arms. "I'm sorry I ever got involved," she said muffledly. "I'm sorry for everything."**

**"You have nothing to be sorry for." Remus felt an insane urge to pull her into his arms, but settled for resting his hand on her arm. "You're telling me the truth. I need to hear it. An innocent man has been wronged, and there's a rat somewhere out there who wants Harry dead. Now that I know, I can do something about it."**

"That's so true," Ron said.

**Danger sniffled. "We," she said.**

**"I'm sorry?"**

**"_We_ can do something about it." She raised her head. Her face, though tear-splotched, was filled with determination. "I may never have met you before today, I may not have wanted to get involved, but now that I am involved, I'm staying that way, so don't think you're leaving me behind!"**

"That's sweet!" Neenie smiled.

**"I would never leave you behind," Remus said, intending it to sound humorous. A mild feeling of shock spread over him as he realized the depth of feeling in the words, and the depth of his feelings for this woman he had only met a short time ago...**

Harry grinned, "I think Moony has a girlfriend."

**A two-part chorus of wails arose from the other room, and the attention of both adults was diverted.**

**Harry was hungry and Neenie was wet, as it turned out, so Danger attended to her sister's problem while Remus slid Harry into one of the two battered high chairs that sat in the kitchen. "What should I give him?" he called.**

**"There's dry cereal in the pantry, he can have some of that," Danger answered.**

**Remus poured some of the cereal onto the high chair tray, and Harry grabbed for it with a gleeful squeal. He stuffed a fistful in his mouth and gave one of his signature grins, and Remus felt his heart melt. _Where do children learn how to do this? Is there some kind of secret Cuteness Correspondence Course they all take?_**

Meghan smirked. "Of course they do."

Hermione covered her mouth briefly to cover up her giggles.

**"I'd suggest setting up over here," Danger said, carrying Neenie into the kitchen and indicating a corner fairly far from the table. "You'll see why."**

**Remus pulled Harry's high chair across the kitchen and parked it next to Neenie's. As soon as Neenie got her serving of cereal, she scooped up a handful and pelted Harry with it. Harry responded in kind, both of them giggling madly, and soon there was more cereal on the floor than anywhere else. "I can always sweep later, and it keeps them happy," Danger said. "We just have to reload them every so often. Now where were we?"**

Ginny grinned. "You two sound so cute!" she cooed. Both of them turned red.

**"We have the last two lines of this stanza figured out. Sirius is innocent, which would have been shown if he'd ever had a trial, and if we can prove the truth somehow, we can free him." But something niggled at Remus. _"...truth will bring new life to him." Truth, and Sirius..._**

**"The truth and the star, what a combination," he murmured.**

Meghan gasped. "No way..."

**"What?"**

**"Something Sirius' girlfriend used to say about them. Because he was named after a star, and her name means 'truth.'"**

**"What's her name?"**

**"Aletha. Aletha Freeman. **

Meghan squeaked and everyone turned their attention to her. "She's my mum! Which means... Sirius HAS to be my dad!"

Harry stood up and hugged her for a moment. "I don't think he knows he has a child..."

Meghan nodded. "Mama doesn't even know he's innocent. I gotta tell her when I wake up!"

**I haven't seen her since last July..." He stopped, realizing Danger had made a sound resembling a stifled squeal. He looked over at her. She had her hand pressed to her mouth as if she were about to be ill.**

**"What's wrong?"**

**"_You_ know Aletha Freeman?"**

**"We were in school together," Remus said. "She was a year below me. Why, do you know her?"**

**"She was my best friend when I was little," Danger said, looking shaken. "She was in my dream..." She blushed. "...about the wedding. But I haven't seen her since we were kids. Are you telling me she's a – a wizardess?"**

Draco couldn't help but snort at her mistake.

Harry rolled his eyes. A glass of water appeared and emptied itself on Draco. Neenie leaned back in satisfaction as the pale boy blamed Ron.

**"A witch," Remus corrected. "If it's the same Aletha Freeman. Can you describe her?"**

**"I have a picture," Danger said. "Of the two of us, before she went away. I'll get it." She hurried up the stairs. Remus took the opportunity to put more cereal on the children's trays. Harry yelled happily and pounded one or two pieces to dust before throwing another handful at Neenie as Danger arrived breathlessly with a framed photograph in her hands.**

**"That's her," Remus said, looking at the grinning, dark-skinned girl with the cap of black frizzy hair, arm around the waist of a younger version of Danger, both of them frozen in time in the Muggle picture. "That's Letha."**

**Danger shook her head. "This is way too weird for me. My best friend when I was little dated your best friend from school, I baby-sit your other best friend's kid, and now we just _happen_ to meet in the park?"**

"It's fate," Luna stated simply, as if it explained everything.

**"It is strange," Remus said, looking again at the picture. "But I'm unbelievably glad that it happened. If it hadn't..." He stopped. _No need to tell her everything._ "I would have spent the day alone and depressed," he finished. "Like I've spent most of the past six months. And it's my birthday, which doesn't help matters any."**

**"Happy birthday, then," Danger said, smiling at him. "I'm glad I could help."**

**"So 'truth' in the poem may mean Aletha," Remus said, pulling himself back to the original subject. "If it does, she may be important in whatever it is we're supposed to do. We should get in touch with her. I can do that. Tomorrow – no, not tomorrow, or the day after. The day after that."**

**"Why not tomorrow?"**

**Remus flinched, inwardly. _She already knows,_ he reminded himself, _and she doesn't care._ But old habits died hard. _And they really shouldn't die at all, I need them for the rest of the world, the kind with normal attitudes about lycanthropy... _"Tomorrow night is the full moon, and I'm not much good for a day before or after."**

**"Of course," Danger said, getting up to give Harry some more cereal. "I can understand that. So in three days, we'll get a hold of Aletha and see how she reacts to this. What can we do in the meantime?"**

Meghan grinned, pleased.

**"Keep working on the poem," Remus said. "If we can get all this from just two lines, what secrets does the rest of it hold?"**

**Working from the identification of Sirius as the Grim, they were able to identify the rat of the first line as Pettigrew fairly easily. "_Find the rat/ whose cunning plot did catch no cat_," Danger chanted. "It caught no cat because it caught a dog, a Grim. It must be Pettigrew."**

Ron snorted. "Yeah, I'd like to see him try to catch Professor McGonagall."

Everyone dissolved in laughter at the image that thought conjured.

**Remus ran his finger along the first line of the quatrain. "This first part is some kind of clue about where to find him. _Find the red and find the rat._ Red again. Could this be the same red as in the couplet, the red that's really orange?"**

**"Could be. That line comes right after the couplet, so it makes sense. All right, thinking time. What's black, brown, and red but really orange?"**

**"It sounds like a joke," Remus said. "A very bad joke."**

**Danger grinned. "Like, what's black and white and red all over?"**

**Remus sighed. "That is so old."**

**"How old is it?" Danger asked in a sing-song tone.**

"I just know I hear it all the time..." Harry trailed off, thinking.

**"It's so old that even wizards know it."**

"Oh... that's a good answer!" Neenie exclaimed.

**"Bravo!" She applauded him. "You know, I've never had anyone actually give me a comeback on that line before?"**

**"They were probably slain by your rapier wit," Remus said, smiling in spite of himself. He had never met anyone who intrigued him as Danger did.**

"I could so hear Padfoot teasing him about this..." Harry commented.

_**I've never met anyone even remotely like Danger!**_

**The doorbell rang.**

**"I'll get it," said Danger, jumping up. "It is my house, after all."**

**Remus watched her go down the hall and open the door onto a wet but no longer raining day. "Hello, Mrs. Dursley, how was your trip?"**

Ron glared at the wall opposite. It was no secret that he hated the Dursleys after meeting them and hearing about them from Harry.

**"Not too bad, thank you," said the woman at the door, who was blonde and rather thin. "I just wanted to let you know we were back, so you can send him along any time you get tired of him." Her tone suggested she expected this to happen sooner rather than later.**

Ginny choked. "Get tired of Harry? Is she mad?"

Draco was staring at Harry as if he'd never seen him before. He still couldn't process the life Harry seemed to have.

_**Does she mean Harry? She must be his aunt...**_

_**Good Lord, she doesn't look a thing like Lily. **_

_**No, I take that back. There's a slight resemblance. Very slight. **_

_**And she doesn't seem to care for Harry much...**_

**"Thank you, I'll do that. He's quite happy at the moment, though, so it may not be for a while."**

**"That's just fine," the woman said in a more cheerful tone. "Thank you again for watching him, it's such a nuisance for Vernon to have these all-day conferences, but they need his advice desperately..." Remus had the impression she was lingering on the doorstep to see if she could get a look inside the house, as if she was simply dying to know everything that went on inside.**

Neenie muttered to herself angrily.

**_Well, if I can see her, she can see me..._ And just as he realized that, she did see him, and her eyes widened quite a bit. "Well, I'll be going, then, Dudders will want his tea," she said. "I'll see you later, dear, thank you again..."**

**"Horrible woman," Danger hissed after the door was safely shut. "You disgusting old gossip-monger. May you fall down the stairs and bite your tongue out."**

Harry stared at the book for a moment and slowly started shaking with laughter at the image it provided.

**"Harry's aunt?"**

**"The one and only. She saw you, didn't she? I didn't have time to warn you to stay out of sight... well, too late now... damn."**

**"What's wrong?"**

**"By tonight, every woman on this block will know that I had a strange man in my house. They'll have us dating by tomorrow and sleeping together the day after that."**

**Remus couldn't resist. "Sounds like a good schedule to me."**

All of the boys in the room howled with laughter, Neville a little less freely than the others.

**Danger's eyes went very wide. "Why... you... you..."**

**He grinned at her.**

**"You MAN!" she shouted, laughing, grabbing a handful of cereal out of the box on the counter and throwing it at him. He dodged it, but Neenie and Harry immediately decided he was a fair target for them as well, and before long there was cereal flying everywhere in the kitchen.**

Ron jumped up. "Food fight!" he shouted. Suddenly, there was food on a long table. Ron picked up a piece of cake and flung it at his sister, only to hit Harry instead.

Harry mock-glared as he took a bite of pizza before flinging it back to Ron, only for it to hit Meghan. She squeaked and grabbed a pie and went to shove it in Harry's face, but she hit Ron instead.

Draco could not believe the barbaric behavior he was seeing. Even Luna was throwing around food, in her dreamy way.

It wasn't until Ron and Harry dumped a bowl of potato chips over his head that he decided to join in the fight.

For about an hour, it was chaos, and everyone was throwing food, and eating it too.

Finally, they decided that it was enough. They cleaned up and settled back down.

Harry picked the book back up.

**The battle ended when Neenie got hit in the eye by a bad throw of Remus' and began to cry. Harry started crying in sympathy, so both children had to be cuddled and comforted, and since Neenie didn't know Remus, he got to hold Harry again.**

**It was bliss.**

"Aw... he loves you," Neenie smiled.

**After Harry had finished sniffling, he looked up at Remus. "Mooey, where Pa-foot?"**

**It was a natural question for the boy to ask – Remus and Sirius had seldom visited the Potters separately – but it caught Remus by surprise, and he had to sit down and get himself under control before he could answer. "Padfoot's away on a trip, Harry. But I think he'll come home soon. And then he can play with you."**

**"Yay, p'ay wif Pa-foot!" Harry said, wiggling. "Where Mama and Dada?"**

"Aw..." Ginny cooed. She ruffled Harry's hair. "You were so cute..."

**_He would have to ask the hard one._ Remus looked over at Danger and mutely appealed for help.**

**"Oh, Harry," she said, sitting down next to them, with Neenie, on her lap, sucking her thumb again. "Your Mama and Dada had to go away."**

**"Go 'way like Pa-foot?"**

**"Well, yes and no. They did go away, but Padfoot is coming back. Your Mama and Dada aren't going to come back. They're watching over you from far away, and they love you very much, but they have to stay where they are."**

**Harry considered this. "Mooey," he finally declared with true toddler logic, bumping his head against Remus' chest. "Dayger." He pointed to Danger. "Neenie." He indicated the girl. "An' Pa-foot come back soon."**

**"That's right," Remus said. "Harry, do you remember your Auntie Letha?"**

**Harry nodded, looking around expectantly.**

**"No, she's not here," Remus said, smiling at the boy's eagerness. "But she might come back soon too. Would you like that?"**

**"Yay!" Harry bounced up and down on Remus' knees. Remus laughed aloud at Harry's obvious delight in life.**

**"How he stays that happy I don't know," Danger said quietly.**

Harry cringed, guessing what was coming.

**"What do you mean?"**

**"I have to show you something, and I don't think you're going to like it."**

Harry sighed. "Well, that was an interesting chapter. It's your turn, Neenie," he added.

She smacked him. "Are you always going to call me Neenie now?"

Everyone nodded and she sighed.


	4. Castles in the Air

Ron ate some chips noisily. Draco grinned and matched him. Harry shrugged and shoved some chips into his mouth.

Neenie groaned. She snatched the book from Harry and started reading to block the noise.

**"Show me something?" Remus asked. "Something about Harry?"**

**Danger nodded. "Harry, come with me," she said, and walked into the hall with Harry and Neenie each holding one hand. Remus followed them.**

**They stopped beside the stairs. "All the houses in this suburb are built alike," Danger said. "So this house is practically identical to the one where Harry lives. Watch."**

Harry flinched.

**She unlatched the door of the floor-level hallway cupboard.**

**Harry pulled away from her. "No! No cubbud! No cubbud! NO!" He ran to Remus and hid behind him. "NO CUBBUD! NO NO NO!"**

"WHAT? What kind of person would lock a kid in a cupboard!" Draco yelled, to everyone's surprise, even though he had sort of calmed down and made friends with Harry and Ron.

**Danger closed the door quickly as Remus knelt down to embrace the stiff and shaking little boy. Neenie was clutching Danger's pants again; her mouth was quivering around the ever-present thumb.**

"That is just wrong," Neville shook his head.

**Remus stroked Harry's hair, trying to get him to calm down, though he was tense himself with the child's obvious fear. "What was that about?"**

**"He _sleeps_ in the cupboard under the stairs at home." Danger's eyes were narrowed, her nostrils flared, her lips tight. "If you can call it a home. And they stick him in there whenever they don't want to be _bothered_ with him."**

Ron looked over to Harry. "Did you sleep in a cupboard in our... universe?" he asked hoarsely.

Harry nodded. "Until I got my Hogwart's letter," he sighed.

Ginny latched onto Harry and hugged him with surprising fierceness that rivaled her mother's. Ron and Hermione started hugging him and Meghan dragged Neville over to join. Luna drifted over dreamily and hugged him. Draco stepped forward cautiously, before joining the hug awkwardly, having never hugged anyone before.

A few minutes later, involving a few cases of crying, everyone released Harry and sat back down. He smiled thankfully at all of them... including Draco.

**A wave of anger swept over Remus, and he tightened his arms around Harry, who was still shivering, his face buried in Remus' shoulder.**

**"I'm sorry, Harry," Danger said soothingly, rubbing the little boy's back. "No cupboard. Not with me. Never with me."**

"That's so sad..."

**"Mooey?" Harry whimpered.**

**"Tell him no cupboard," Danger whispered. "He wants to know if you're going to put him in there. Tell him no."**

**"No cupboard, Harry," Remus said firmly. "No cupboard with me. Ever."**

**Harry relaxed all at once and molded himself against Remus' side, head resting on his shoulder.**

**"What kind of person would do that to a child?" Remus demanded, standing up with Harry in his arms.**

Draco pointed at the book. "Exactly my question!"

**"The kind of person like Vernon and Petunia Dursley," Danger said with a growl in her voice, leading the way back to the kitchen. "And their son, Dudley. He's not much older than Harry, but he's huge – fattest kid I've seen in a long while – and mean to the core. He pulls Neenie's hair whenever he can catch her. I don't like to think what he probably does to Harry."**

"Dudley?" Draco laughed.

Harry grinned. "Yep. You should hear some of the names Aunt Petunia calls him. Ickle Diddikins..." He broke off, shaking his head while laughing.

Neville shook his head. "I feel bad for you now, Harry."

**"Dudley mean," volunteered Neenie, removing her thumb from her mouth.**

**"Well, another party heard from," Remus said, smiling at the little girl. "You know, I think that's the first time I've heard you talk?"**

**Neenie smiled back at him, then ducked behind Danger's chair in a sudden shy fit.**

Ron snickered. "I can't believe you were ever that shy."

Neenie smacked him before continuing.

**"She's darling," Remus said. "You're very lucky."**

**"Yeah, well, she likes you," Danger said. "With most people, she won't even come out from behind me until she's known them for about a week. Talking usually takes at least two."**

**"You must not get many baby-sitters."**

**Danger shrugged. "No need for them – there's nowhere I go that Neenie can't come, except work, and she likes the people at her day care, she's known them since she was tiny. So anyway, now you know as much as I do about Harry. I baby-sit him every day I can get off work – "**

**"Are you saying you've been missing work to take care of Harry?" Remus asked.**

"Aw... how sweet," Ginny cooed.

**"After I figured out why he was throwing a screaming fit every time I went to get the Christmas decorations, yes. I wasn't about to let a sweet little boy like him get mistreated without doing _something_ about it. I tried calling Social Services, but they're backed up for months, and unless he's in immediate danger, they don't want to hear about it. So at the moment I'm part-time clerk, part-time babysitter. The Dursleys pay pretty well, so it's not really a financial problem..." **

"Wow... she's doing a lot for you, Harry," commented Draco, wide-eyed.

Harry nodded, surprised at the use of his first name.

**She stopped, noticing how Remus was looking at her. "What is it?"**

**"_What is it?" You're keeping this little boy safe from things his own relatives are doing to him, and you're sacrificing to do it – a part-time job, even with baby-sitting thrown in, can't possibly support you and your sister the way you deserve. _**

_**You're a good person. **_

_**That's what it is. **_

_**And I wish I could tell you that.**_

"Well, you can!" Ron told the book.

**"I was just thinking how ironic it is that you're practically a stranger, but you're helping Harry, and his relatives, the people who should be taking care of him, are actually the problem."**

**"Stuff happens all over," Danger said, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm just not one to sit around and let it happen. Never have been."**

**"Thank you," Remus said earnestly. "For everything."**

**"Ah, you're welcome," Danger mumbled, blushing. "Don't look now, but I think he's gone to sleep..."**

**Even as she said it, Remus felt Harry grow heavier on his shoulder, in the inexplicable way of sleeping babies. He shifted the boy gently down into his arms. "Should I put him on the couch?"**

**"No, he might roll off. I'll get a blanket for the floor."**

Harry yawned and a blanket appeared on top of him. "Omph," he protested as he wrestled it.

**The telephone rang. "Hold that thought," Danger said, reaching for it. "Hello? Yes... oh, yes, of course... right away. You're welcome." She hung up. "His aunt says she wants him home," she said sarcastically. "The truth is she thinks she's paid me enough for today. It costs nothing to stick him in a cupboard, after all."**

**"A _cupboard_." Remus looked down at Harry, whose expression and general demeanor while asleep could only be accurately described as angelic, and felt again the urge to hold the child tight and never let him go. "That has to stop. It's wrong."**

**"You going to stop it?" Danger asked lightly.**

**"If I have to, yes."**

**"Not to play devil's advocate, but how?"**

**"They're adults, aren't they? They'll listen to reason..." He stopped, seeing Danger shaking her head.**

**"If they were reasonable, would they be making a not-even-two-year-old sleep in a cupboard? They think they're God's greatest gift to the world, and they won't listen to anyone. Trust me. I know."**

Harry nodded quickly in agreement. Ron was staring at a point in the wall, not moving.

**"I'd take him myself if I thought it would solve anything," Remus said, rocking Harry soothingly as the boy came half-awake with a little wail.**

**Danger smiled mischievously. "Take him, as in just take him? Walk in one day, pick him up, and walk out?"**

"That would be nice," Ginny snarled, "Get him away from those monsters."

**"Or one night," Remus said, entering into the spirit of the game. "Pick the lock on their front door, sneak in and steal him, out again and no one the wiser. We could be miles away by morning, if we had some place safe to go. A house, and a job, somewhere far from here..." He smiled sadly, shaking his head. "Castles in the air. Here, you should take him home."**

**Danger accepted Harry. "Stay with Neenie while I take him over?" she asked. "I'll only be a minute."**

**"Certainly." Remus saw her to the door, since Harry was a two-arm package, especially asleep and limp. As he closed it behind her, he became aware of a tugging at his pant leg. He looked down. "Yes, and what can I do for you?" he asked Neenie gravely.**

**"Up," the little girl said matter-of-factly, holding her arms out. Remus scooped her up, and she squirmed around until she was sitting on his hip and looking him in the face. "Moo-nee nice," she said with a smile, apparently proud of herself for pronouncing both syllables.**

"That's 'cause she's a know-it-all," Ron grinned.

Neenie groaned and smacked him again.

**"I s'eep now." And without further ado, she plopped her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.**

**"Well, I guess this is my day to be a pillow," Remus said bemusedly. He headed for the living room, where he could at least be a pillow sitting down.**

"That sounds good," Ginny sighed, leaning into Harry herself. He looked at her in surprise, but shrugged and let her be. He took his blanket and covered her, missing the knowing looks everyone was exchanging.

_**It's been an incredible day. I'm tired myself.**_

**He yawned as he sat down on the couch. _Putting my feet up would feel nice. Lying down would feel even nicer._**

**He shifted Neenie's weight to his chest. _I'll just close my eyes for a moment. I won't go to sleep..._**

* * *

**He was in water, cold water, and it was deep. Too deep. He couldn't stay afloat, he was starting to sink –**

**A hand caught his and pulled his arm over a piece of wood, which he clung to and caught his breath. He looked around at his savior – it was a woman, a brown-haired woman, who looked familiar –**

**_Danger. That's her name. I met her today, she takes care of Harry._ And sure enough, the woman, who was holding on to the other side of what he could now see was a tiny raft, had two children clinging to her back, and one of them was Harry. The other was her sister – _oh, what's her name, Neenie._ Both looked tired, as if they were about to lose their grip and fall into the water.**

"This has to be a dream," Draco said.

Luna looked at him, "Don't just see what you want to see. Look beyond that," she said wisely.

**He held out his hand, wordlessly offering to take one of the children from her. Danger nodded, and he hooked his elbow around a projection on the raft, then reached over and snagged Harry. There was a heart-stopping moment when he thought he was going to drop the child, but then Harry grabbed onto him and held on tight.**

**_Why don't we put them on this thing? It might not hold us, but it will hold them. _He lifted Harry from the water and put him on the raft, and it rocked slightly but stayed upright. Danger quickly set Neenie beside Harry, and the children huddled together.**

**Remus looked down the river and saw the silhouetted figure of a woman, desperately trying to hold on to something which seemed to be breaking apart under her hands. As they passed her, he reached out and caught her hand, pulling it to their raft. She caught on and held tight, and as they came into a slightly more lit area, he saw her face – it was Aletha Freeman, looking as determined as she ever had chasing down a Bludger.**

_**We're all in this together, it would seem...**_

**And just as he thought that, something brushed his leg. Something soft. A hand, which closed weakly around his ankle before losing its grip...**

_**Someone's down there. I have to help them.**_

**He took a deep breath and dived.**

**The water was cold on his face, and murky. He couldn't see. He felt around where he thought the hand had been, and just as he was starting to need a breath, found it, limp and boneless-feeling. He grasped it firmly and swam for the surface.**

**As he had hoped, the women had been kicking against the current, holding the raft nearby, waiting for him. He pulled the person up behind him, and somehow wasn't surprised to see that it was Sirius Black, looking exhausted and pale, and not breathing.**

_**That's bad.**_

**But before he could do anything about it, Sirius gasped and started coughing, and Remus hoisted him onto the raft and grabbed the edge again himself. Aletha loosed her grip enough to touch Sirius' face gently, and he opened his eyes after a moment to smile at her.**

**The raft speeded up. The water seemed to be getting warmer, and there was definitely more light. And – _is this thing getting bigger?_**

**A few more moments removed the question. The raft had indeed grown. It was large enough to take everyone. Remus helped the women climb aboard, then accepted their hands to pull him up.**

**Suddenly they passed from the darkness of the tunnel into light, the light of a sunny day. The tiredness Remus had been feeling seemed to drop away from him as he looked around at the green banks of the river, at the smiling faces of his friends. The raft felt like an oasis of peace, and as Harry climbed into his lap, Remus wished he could stay where he was forever...**

* * *

**Danger closed the door behind her, unable to shake the image in her mind of bright green eyes filled with unhappiness and a little voice saying "Dayger?" in a pleading tone.**

_**He practically begged me not to leave. But what can I do? He belongs to them.**_

**Another voice intruded on her thoughts. Remus' voice.**

_**I'd take him myself... if we had some place safe to go. A house, and a job, somewhere far from here...**_

**Danger's imagination took over. _Just a little house, big enough for four. A man and a woman, a boy and a girl, making a new life together... and a job at a bookstore, or a library... oh, wouldn't that be wonderful? To work among all the wisdom and folly of the ages, neatly categorized and alphabetized..._**

"I don't think I would mind that," Harry said thoughtfully.

**She smiled wryly. _Now who's building castles in the air? A new life together? For heaven's sake, __Gertrude, you only met the man today, no matter what you dreamed! _She only used her real name to herself when she was annoyed. _And you know you'll never get Harry. Even if the Dursleys don't want him, he's theirs by right, and they never let go of anything, even if they want nothing more than to be rid of it. _**

Draco punched a pillow in frustration while Neville stared at Harry.

_**But it would be good for Neenie to have a brother. She was awfully lonely before Harry came along. There's no little girls living around here, and most of the little boys are Dudley's type – big spoiled bullies...**_

**_Stop it now,_ her stern side ordered. _You're wishing for the moon._**

"No, she's wishing for Moony!" Ron laughed obnoxiously. Ginny threw her shoe at him.

_**No, I'm wishing for...**_

_**Don't. Even. Think. It.**_

Everyone chuckled, remembering a time like that.

**This inner argument brought her through the kitchen and into the living room, where she stopped short.**

**_Moony,_ her irrepressible side finished anyway.**

**Remus Lupin was sleeping on her couch, with one arm protectively across little Hermione, asleep on his chest.**

**_They look perfect together,_ she couldn't help thinking. _He could be her father. _**

Everyone turned and looked at Neenie. They nodded in unison, freaking her out a little.

_**And she needs a father. I'm doing my best, but she's getting into the stubborn stage, and having someone else around to back me up would help with that. **_

"You, stubborn?" Ron laughed.

**She sat down wearily in a rocking chair, acknowledging reality. _Having someone else around would help with everything. There are days I just want to give up and cry because there's always too much to do and never enough time or money. I know life's tough all over, but human beings weren't meant to go it alone, were we? I mean, there has to be a reason for this thing called love..._**

**She blinked, startled by her own thoughts, and shook her head. _Moving a bit fast, aren't we, young lady? Love's quite a big word. Why don't we try something like friendship first, and see where it goes from there..._**

Everyone groaned.

_**After all, you don't know the man that well yet. No matter what Petunia Dursley and her network of spies say.**_

**She sighed. _He can joke all he wants, but my reputation's just gone down the tubes. The neighborhood busybodies will assume the worst, and the story will be everywhere by the day after tomorrow, and there's nothing I can do about it._**

_**Maybe we should move...**_

_**But I can't abandon Harry. He's undernourished, in more ways than one – he's incredibly bright, but even the brightest children won't learn if they don't have opportunities, and when does he ever get them, stuck in that flipping cupboard? And they never hold him or hug him – I think they may actually hit him, he flinches sometimes when I lift my hand above my shoulder. **_

"That's... sad... Merlin," Meghan breathed.

**She twisted a pinch of her shirt in frustration. _We're the only hope he has. Me, and Neenie, and now Remus..._**

_**I can't take that away from him, I just can't. Reputation or not, here we stay.**_

_**Unless, of course, we did something really crazy. Like actually stealing him and running for it. **_

"Do it," Neville encouraged, turning red when Draco turned and looked at him.

_**Could we get away with it? Would having magic on our side help any? There would probably be magic people looking for him too, I gather he's important somehow... but if we hid from the magic types with not-magic methods, and the not-magic types with magic methods...**_

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Ron grinned.

**"Castles in the air again," she said aloud in frustration.**

**Remus came awake with a small jump, looking down in confusion at the tiny brown head on his chest.**

**"I'll take her," Danger said, lifting her sister gently enough that Neenie only fretted a moment before settling back into her nap into Danger's arms. "Be back in a moment."**

**She hurried upstairs to slip the little girl into her crib. When she returned, Remus was sitting at the kitchen table, looking rather embarrassed.**

**"I'm so sorry," he began. "You left me to watch her, and instead I fell asleep..."**

**"No apology necessary," Danger said sincerely. "I doubt she would have been able to move without waking you, and it was a charming tableau to walk in on. Don't worry about it."**

"I bet it was cute," Ginny sighed.

**Remus nodded stiffly. An uncomfortable silence ensued.**

**"I should go," Remus began, at the same moment that Danger blurted, "Would you like to stay for dinner?"**

**They hesitated, looking at each other almost shyly. Then Remus said musingly, "Well, I suppose I could..." as Danger quickly said, "But if you have somewhere else to be..."**

Everyone started laughing at the coincidences before Neenie controlled herself enough to continue reading.

**The double coincidence was too much, and they both cracked up, laughing together with abandon and shattering the tension that had been building in the room.**

**"No, nowhere else to be," Remus said, still chuckling, a few moments later. "And I'm thoroughly sick of my own cooking. So if the offer is still open, I accept with pleasure."**

**"The pleasure's all mine." Danger smiled and felt her heart warm when he smiled back. "I love to cook. Do you have any preferences?"**

**"I enjoy pasta dishes," Remus said. "But really, anything will do."**

**"Have you ever had pasta with peanut butter sauce?"**

"Can we try that now? Please?" Ron asked eagerly. Neenie groaned and everyone tried. They agreed that it had an interesting taste.

**"No, but it sounds interesting, and I'll try anything once."**

**"Bit dangerous, that, isn't it?"**

**Remus shrugged. "No more so than life itself. I make exceptions for obviously stupid things, like teasing a hippogriff."**

Draco looked at the ceiling and pretended he didn't know what Remus was talking about.

**"_What_ is a _hippogriff_?"**

**Stories about wizarding life and magic in general filled the time it took to prepare dinner. Danger listened carefully, storing the details in her memory. _You never know what might be useful._**

**"This is excellent," Remus announced after tasting the pasta. "My compliments to the chef."**

**"Thank you, kind sir." Danger inclined her head in his direction.**

"I kinda want to join in the story myself now..." Meghan sighed wistfully.

**"I haven't had anything this good since I left Hogwarts."**

**"That's... your school?" Danger hazarded, hoping for another round of stories.**

**She wasn't disappointed. By the time she handed the last of the dishes to Remus to dry, Danger knew more about the wizarding life of England than any Muggle (a word she found fascinating) who wasn't related to a wizard or witch.**

**"You shouldn't be telling me this, should you?" she asked. "You could get in trouble."**

**"I could," Remus replied. "But as you pointed out, you're already involved. You're practically raising The Boy Who Lived." Another thing he'd explained was the cause of Harry's fame, and the nickname it had earned him among the general wizarding public. "It makes sense for you to know. You may even have magic yourself."**

Everyone leaned in at this, not realizing that there wasn't enough room to scoot any closer together.

**"_Me?_"**

**"You're what we call a true-dreamer. You see things in your dreams that really happened. Parts of them even sound predictive, foretelling the future. That's a magical gift as far as I know... but we can always check."**

**"How?"**

**Remus got up and went into the hall, returning with a carved stick about a foot long.**

**"Is that..."**

**"A genuine magic wand. Here, give it a try."**

**Danger accepted it gingerly and gave it a timid wave. Nothing happened.**

**"I'd prefer if you'd point it _that_ way," Remus said firmly, directing her aim away from him.**

Ginny giggled at the thought of what would happen if it was still pointing at him.

**"Fine," Danger snapped, jerking her hand away in annoyance.**

**A burst of golden sparks shot from the end of the wand and landed on the kitchen counter, where they fizzled and went out in a puddle of water from the dish drainer.**

**"Was that _me_?" Danger breathed.**

"She was the one with the wand," Harry laughed.

**"You're the one with the wand," Remus said, grinning at her.**

**Danger quickly handed it to him, still staring at the place where the sparks had been.**

**"Congratulations, Miss Granger," said Remus, pocketing his wand. "You're a witch."**

**Danger sat down abruptly, luckily where the chair was instead of where it wasn't.**

_**I'm a witch. I have magic. **_

_**But – that's impossible. **_

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Apparently not."

**"How can I be? I mean, you told me how Hogwarts goes looking for children who have magic, and I never got a letter or anything, so how could I be magical now?"**

**"I don't know," Remus admitted. "But you are magical. No one can use a wand who isn't. I heard a theory once that some people have latent magic, magic that isn't active and can't be detected, so they go through their lives as Muggles. No one ever knows, unless they experience some kind of shock that brings out the magic in them."**

**"A shock? Like finding your parents dead in the living room?"**

**Remus winced. "That might well do it, yes."**

**Danger stared at the floor. "When I found my dad and mum, I screamed. I screamed so loud they heard me on the next block. And things broke. All the light bulbs, all our glass lampshades, even the glass in the windows shattered. Was that magic?"**

Everyone winced at the thought of the sound.

**"It must have been." Remus seemed about to make a movement toward her, but instead went to the desk in the corner, wrote something on a pad, and tore it off. "Here's my phone number. If you need anything, call me. Well, not tomorrow night, but any other time, call me."**

**Danger nodded, accepting the folded slip of paper. "Wait a second, I'll give you mine," she said. "In case there's something you need to tell me in a hurry."**

**Remus took the note she handed him and slid it into his pocket. "I really should go now," he said, looking outside, where it was full dark already.**

**Danger walked down the hall with him. "Thank you for staying to dinner."**

**"Thank you for having me. It was the best meal, and the best companionship, I've had in months."**

**"Same here. The companionship, I mean." Danger found her breath coming a little short as Remus smiled at her again.**

**"Well, good night, then," he said, holding out his hand.**

**"Good night." She shook it courteously.**

_**Is it my imagination, or did he hold on a moment longer than he had to?**_

**With a polite bow, Remus Lupin took his leave.**

**Danger leaned against the wall and caught her breath.**

**_I am _definitely _attracted to that man._**

_**Strongly attracted.**_

_**I think a cold shower is indicated.**_

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand and fell off the couch. Harry looked down at her worriedly as he helped her up.

* * *

**Remus hurried through the dark streets to the place where he had parked his car, mind racing.**

_**I need to get home. And start making plans. Harry's being mistreated, Sirius is innocent... Aletha needs to know first of all, I can owl her tomorrow... should I even tell Dumbledore? I don't have any solid proof...**_

"Who cares?" Draco and Ron exclaimed together.

_**But before I do any of that, I think I need a cold shower. **_

"...They both decided that they needed a cold shower?" Draco asked incredulously.

**_I am _strongly _attracted to that woman. _**

_**And that's not good. For either of us.**_

Neenie frowned. "Well, this is very interesting."

Ron stretched. "What's the point of this, anyways?" he yawned.

Neenie smacked him with the book. "So that we change things for the better in our universe based on what we know!"


	5. Tamer

"Ron, your turn," Ginny told him as Neenie handed him the book. He sighed dramatically before beginning.

_**Dear Aletha,**_

_**I know we haven't corresponded in a while, and to be honest I don't really know what to say to you. The last time we saw each other, the world was a very different place for both of us.**_

"No kidding," Neville snorted.

_**But I'd like to see you, to tell you a few things that I think may be important. I'm a bit ill right now, so I'll be stuck at home for a day or so, but any time after that I'm free. I'd appreciate an answer, even if it's "no".**_

_**Thanks,**_

_**Remus Lupin**_

**Remus laid down his quill and considered the letter. _I think it'll do. _**

_**It had better. It's my 14th draft.**_

Luna frowned. "There must have been a lot of Wrackspurts around while he was writing." Draco smiled at her in amusement.

**He waved the letter in the air for a moment to dry the ink, folded it, and addressed it: _Ms. Aletha Freeman._ Then he went over to his fireplace. A quick "_Incendio!_" and a handful of Floo powder later, he knelt down on the blanket he'd folded on the bricks. "London post office," he said clearly, and put his head in the fire.**

**When the spinning subsided, he was looking at the interior of the Diagon Alley Post Office. One of the clerks, a small blonde witch, noticed him and hurried over. "Good morning, sir, what can I do for you today?"**

**"I have a letter I'd like to post," Remus said. "How much to rent an owl for one delivery?"**

**"Is this a local or an international delivery?"**

**"Local, definitely local." _At least I hope so. Last I heard, she was living in London._**

"She still lives in London," Meghan told the book. No one bothered to point out that she was talking to a book.

**"That's fourteen Knuts, sir. Shall I charge your vault, or would you like to pay up front?"**

**"I'll pay now, thanks." Remus felt around in his pocket until he found a Sickle and tossed it into the fire. He counted silently. _One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three..._**

**The Sickle clattered onto the floor of the post office. "I'll get right on that, sir," the clerk said, scooping it up. "Can I get your name and address, please?"**

**"Remus Lupin, number 17 Oxman Road, Cold Crossing, Surrey." _Fifteen minutes from Little Whinging. That's all. Six months I was worried about Harry, and all that time he was just fifteen minutes away from me... no wonder Dumbledore would never tell me where he was._**

Harry grumbled. "I wish he did know." Ginny put her hand on his comfortingly.

**The clerk recorded the information at her desk and returned to the fireplace with a handful of Knuts. "Your owl will be arriving in approximately half an hour, Mr. Lupin." She poured the coins into a funnel hanging by the side of the fire; they streamed through the connection and landed by Remus' side without hitting him in the face, for which he was decidedly grateful. "Thank you for using the Diagon Alley Post Office, and have a nice day."**

**"Thank you, ma'am." Remus pulled his head out of the fire, coughed once or twice, and scooped up the Knuts which littered his hearth.**

_**Half an hour. Time enough for lunch.**_

**As he fixed himself a sandwich, Remus' thoughts kept returning to Harry, and to the Grangers. _He and Neenie seem to like each other, as much as two toddlers ever like anything. And he's obviously bonded strongly with Danger. She's probably like a mother to him, which is good – he __needs one. _**

**_But he needs a father, too._ _So does Neenie. And they don't have anyone..._**

Draco looked up hopefully at that.

**He halted that train of thought before it started pulling into improper stations.**

_**I have absolutely no right to be thinking anything of the sort. I only met these people yesterday, no matter how charming or nice they are. No matter that the little girl, admittedly shy, likes me enough to fall asleep in my arms, and that I'm hopelessly attracted to her sister... **_

_**Well, I've admitted it. Might as well say it aloud, then...**_

**Remus put down his sandwich and sighed. "All right. I am very much attracted to Danger."**

Ron could barely read the sentence through his laughter. Everyone else joined at the simple ridiculousness of the sentence.

**Then he had to laugh at the other possible meanings of _that_ statement.**

_**So yes. I'm attracted to her. But it would never work. I'm a werewolf. Once a month I go into a killing frenzy where I want nothing more than to hurt human beings. What sane person would even think of putting a child, never mind two children, in a house with me?**_

"Danger," everyone chorused.

Luna nodded. "She is rather sane, more sane than those who like to have a normal, sensible life."

_**Of course, what sane person would think of leaving a child in a house where he's locked in a cupboard by his supposed guardians?**_

_**I guess it all just goes to show one thing.**_

_**I'm not entirely sane.**_

_**But Sirius and James told me that for years...**_

**A rapping on the window broke into his thoughts. _Oh, the owl's here. Good._**

**He opened the window, and the owl flapped into the room, perching on the back of one of his kitchen chairs. Quickly, he opened his letter and added a PS:**

_**It's about Harry. R.L.**_

Meghan nodded. "That's a very good idea."

**"That should get her attention," he muttered to himself as he blew on the ink to dry it. Aletha had been one of the Potters' most frequent visitors, coming to talk with Lily and play with Harry at least once a week. A strong and practical woman, the first female Beater at Hogwarts in 10 years, she would have loved to have children of her own, but Sirius had always been too interested in making trouble, at first for his superiors and then, as the war worsened, for Voldemort...**

_**He was planning to ask her to marry him soon, I think. Sometime in November, and have a Christmas wedding... **_

"That's sooo sweet," Meghan cooed, wishing that it could have happened.

_**God, this whole mess just keeps getting worse, the more I look at it. Lives ruined everywhere I turn. Lily and James, Sirius, Aletha, Harry, me... even Danger and Neenie had their lives shattered by Death Eaters. **_

**He attached the letter to the owl's leg with a spare piece of string, and it took off.**

_**But the hallmark of humanity is the ability to start over. What if we, all the survivors, could start over together? Make a home somewhere and rebuild our lives, helping one another?**_

**_Impossible,_ said his cynical side. _You're dreaming._**

**But the idea had taken hold of his mind, and it refused to let go. _It might be worth a shot. Maybe. Possibly. _**

_**It's a dream, all right, but doesn't everything start with a dream?**_

Everyone looked at each other and laughed.

"This is a good dream," Draco commented, to the surprise of all including himself.

* * *

**Danger dreamed.**

**She was driving along roads she had never seen in waking life, driving as if she took this path every day, or every night, since it was nighttime. Neenie slept in her car seat in the back seat of the truck. They had to hurry, hurry, there wasn't much time...**

Everyone leaned forward. Ron was surprisingly good at reading aloud.

**A right, a quick left, and she was there. She parked the truck, noting the time before she turned it off – 10:13. Up the front steps of one of the houses she ran; the door opened to her hand, and she stepped inside and closed it behind her.**

**She had only a moment to look around before she heard a loud thumping, crashing noise, as if something was being thrown at a wall over and over again. And the wall was starting to buckle from the strain...**

_**No, I'm wrong. Not a wall, a door. **_

_**That door.**_

**The door in question looked as if it should lead only to a closet, but there was obviously something in there. Something that wanted out.**

**And something that was about to get out. The door was cracking.**

**Three more hits ought to do it, Danger estimated, stepping off to one side.**

Neenie was covering her mouth. "Moony..."

**Two more.**

**One.**

_**Crash.**_

**The door flew into splinters, and a long, gray, shaggy form erupted from the closet, landed on the floor of the hallway, and howled in triumph.**

_**A wolf. **_

_**No, a werewolf. **_

_**Remus. It has to be.**_

**The werewolf noticed Danger and snarled.**

Neenie shrieked.

**Danger noted from a distance that she really should be scared, but somehow she couldn't find the energy for fear. Her entire being was fixated on what she had to do –**

**The werewolf charged her, leaping up to bite her, and she dropped quickly to the floor. Its jump carried it over her head, and she reached up and caught hold of one of its paws. Something like an electric shock passed through her, and –**

Ginny covered her ears.

**She was sitting up in bed, gasping.**

**Quickly, she flipped the light on and looked at her clock. 9:49.**

_**I have to go. Now.**_

**She dressed faster than she had ever done, snatched Neenie and practically ran down the stairs, was unlocking her truck before her nearly hysterical mind caught up. _What am I doing? Werewolves hate people, they try to kill them! There's no way I should be doing this!_**

**_As of two days ago, you didn't even know werewolves really existed,_ she told her doubting side, buckling Neenie into her car seat. _So shut up._**

"Way to tell yourself off!" Draco laughed.

**The doubts grumbled but subsided.**

**Danger had no idea where Remus Lupin lived, except that it was in the general area nearby, but just as in her dream, the roads unfolded before her as if she had known the way from childhood. "Turn right here" or "sharp left coming up" floated into her mind precisely when they were needed. It was an eerie feeling.**

_**I wonder if this is my magic, and I can find the way to anywhere I really need to go? That seems like not very much for magic to do, but maybe that's the way it is if you come to it late...**_

Neenie tapped her chin in thought as Ron continued.

**She parked the truck in front of the house she had seen just as the last little number on the dashboard clock turned from 2 to 3 and ran up the front steps, wondering idly if the door would open for her, and feeling no surprise when it did. She pulled it shut behind herself and locked it, taking a look around.**

**The house was small and a bit shabby, obviously lived-in. Motion on the mantelpiece caught her eye – a black-haired baby crawled into view within the frame of a photograph and rolled over, displaying a big smile on a very familiar face.**

_**Harry. And a magic photo of him, no less. This has to be the right house.**_

**On cue, the thumping from the closet began.**

**Danger discovered that when it was for real, she felt fear. Fear almost paralyzed her. She would have run away, except for one thing.**

_**If I don't do something, he'll get out of the house and start hurting people, maybe even killing them. Then in the morning, when he realizes what he did, it's only a matter of whether he commits suicide before the authorities find him. He would never be able to live with himself. **_

_**And I can't live without him.**_

**When there was time, Danger decided, she was going to do a complete mental check and make sure she wasn't turning into some simpering fainting romantic sissy.**

Ron snorted and continued.

**The door crashed outwards.**

_**I guess not, since a sissy would have fainted by now...**_

**The werewolf rushed at her – she saw its hindquarters gather for the leap and bent her knees in a controlled fall – the gray body flew over her head, snarling down at her as it passed – her hand flew up and made contact, wrapping around one of the front paws – she felt the roughness of the paw pads, the slippery fur, the blunt claws –**

**The shock was much worse in real life than in the dream. She was only vaguely conscious of collapsing to the ground, the wolf slumped beside her, her hand still wrapped around its paw...**

* * *

**Remus came to full awareness with a start. _Where am I?_**

**The last thing he remembered was despair. He had locked the closet door at two minutes to moonrise and suddenly noticed that the grain in the wood seemed to have more vertical lines than it should. The door was cracking. It probably wouldn't survive his usual onslaught of the night. And it was too late for him to do anything about it.**

_**So I should be somewhere in the countryside, probably covered in blood from some innocent person I bit, or if I'm very lucky, still in the closet. Instead, I'm...**_

_**Wearing dress robes?**_

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

**"You all right?" said a familiar voice from the other end of the small stone room where he sat. Sirius Black, flawlessly attired in dark red, was leaning against the wall. "You look like your dog just died."**

Harry snorted and Ginny grinned widely.

**"What's going on?"**

**"What's going on, the man wants to know," Sirius said to the air. "How do you forget your own wedding?"**

"WHAT?" Neenie gasped, almost accusing Ron of misreading the book.

**"_What?_"**

**"Come on, there's our cue!" Sirius sprang across the room and grabbed Remus' wrist, towing him towards the door. "Having second thoughts? She's a lovely girl, I'd take her off your hands if I didn't already have one myself..."**

**"No, no," Remus said, realizing what must be happening. _It's a dream. That's all. It's just a dream._ "No, I was just a little distracted. I'm ready now."**

**"Good. Here we go."**

**They stepped out into – _the Great Hall?_**

**Sure enough, it was the Great Hall at Hogwarts, but Remus had never seen it like this. The tables were gone, replaced with bench-like seats in two sections, all facing the dais where Remus and Sirius stood, and all filled with people. White flowers and ribbons were everywhere, and a balding man was standing on the dais, a few yards away from the two of them, wearing what looked like the official robes of the Minister of Magic. Sirius practically propelled Remus in his direction. "Just like in rehearsals, Moony," he muttered.**

**_I wish I remembered them, Padfoot!_ Remus retorted inside his mind, but kept his mouth shut.**

**The music playing in the room changed into a processional. Two pairs of bridesmaids and ushers walked sedately down the aisle, followed by a maid of honor, and finally the crowd rose to its feet to signify the arrival of the bride.**

**Her veil was over her face so that Remus couldn't see her, but he knew the man escorting her down the aisle – none other than Albus Dumbledore. He sneaked a look at the wedding party. _The brunette bridesmaid looks familiar... I don't know the redheads... the other usher looks like James, only that's not possible. But that is Aletha across from Sirius... _**

Ginny's eyebrows shot up.

**The bride stepped onto the dais and turned to him. Dumbledore gently lifted her veil, and Remus looked into a pair of bright brown eyes lit up with joy, joy he couldn't help but return as he recognized her.**

**"_I was so happy to see you that I forgot I didn't know anything about you."_ Danger's voice rang in his head. _"And suddenly I did know all about you. Everything."_**

**And as Remus joined hands with his bride, he discovered what she had meant.**

**The life of Gertrude Kelly Granger played itself on fast-forward inside his mind. He learned about her in those few seconds as he might have over the course of months, years, normally.**

**She had always been bookish and a bit scatter-brained, a quiet girl who loved her family and home above all, who almost never went out, who had never even had a boyfriend or a date. She was all right with children, not stellar but not hopeless either, but she had lost her heart to her baby sister from the first moment she saw the tiny face. She had only ever worked part-time in her life and was used to everything coming easily, no rough spots or bumps in her road.**

**Then her parents were killed.**

**If it hadn't been for Neenie, Remus realized, Danger's world would have ended that day, as his own had practically ended on the previous Halloween. Her parents had been the world to her, as his friends had been to him. She, like him, had considered suicide at one point. But Neenie had needed her, and that had kept her going, forced her to recover and fight back.**

_**And they need me now. Harry, and Danger and Neenie, need me. I can't let them down.**_

**"... as long as you both shall live?" finished the man in official robes, whose fringe of hair proved to be red up close.**

**Remus realized he was being addressed. "Er, I do."**

**Apparently it was the correct answer, since the man turned to Danger and repeated what he had said to Remus.**

**"I do." Her answer rang out clearly through the Hall.**

**"By the power vested in me by the office of Minister of Magic, I do hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."**

**Remus did as he was told.**

**Danger's voice surfaced in his mind again.**

**"_And please don't take this wrong, but if you kiss in real life like you did in the dream... damn."_**

_**Same to you, beautiful. Same to you.**_

_**I am definitely in love.**_

**Everything blurred around them as they broke off the kiss, and suddenly they were dancing, swaying in one another's arms to something slow and beautiful, something by Bach, Remus thought.**

**Danger smiled impishly at him. "I figured out the second quatrain of the poem."**

**"What, all of it?"**

**"I think so. Let me see:**

**"_The wolf that runs in brightest dark_**

**"_Of fear in danger strikes no spark,_**

**"_For she is maid of warrior soul,_**

**"_And by her touch his mind is whole._**

**"The wolf is you, of course – 'brightest dark' means the night when there's the most light, the night of the full moon. So the first line just means you." She laid her head against his shoulder. "My handsome wolf."**

**"Does 'danger' in the second line mean you?" Remus asked.**

**"I think it does," Danger said without lifting her head. "And the third line is me. 'Gertrude' means warrior woman, so the 'maid of warrior soul' is me." She pulled away slightly to look him in the eye. "Those first three lines of poetry boil down to the fact that you don't scare me when you transform."**

**"I don't?"**

**"Well, the first time, yes. **

Draco rolled his eyes. "As it would anyone."

**But it won't any more."**

**"Why not?"**

**"When you transform, you lose your human mind in the wolf, right?"**

**"Right."**

**She smiled, and Remus registered once again how beautiful she was. "I found out tonight that my magic reverses that. I'm a werewolf tamer. When I touch you after you transform, you regain your human mind. You're in control."**

_**In control... Merlin, what that would mean to me...**_

_**I'd never have to be afraid again. No one would need to be afraid of me. I wouldn't wear myself out during the full moon night, so I wouldn't need to stay home the next day. I could live a normal life. **_

_**If it's true.**_

_**Oh, God, please let it be true!**_

Nobody could comment. They were too into the story to interrupt Ron.

_**The only problem is, since Danger's the only one who can do the magic, I'd have to stay close to her.**_

**Looking at the woman in his arms, he realized how much he wished this dream-wedding had been real.**

_**This is a problem? Somehow I don't think so...**_

**"And you can't claim you don't know me any more," Danger said with a grin as the music swelled up. "We know all about each other, now. So I feel safe in saying this. I love you, Remus Lupin, wolf of my heart."**

**Remus felt his voice catch as he started to reply. He had to swallow hard and start over. "I love you, Gertrude Granger, Danger of my life."**

**She raised her eyebrows. "That sounds terrible."**

**Remus laughed. "Yes, it does, doesn't it."**

**Sirius and Aletha were dancing nearby. Dumbledore had led Minerva McGonagall onto the floor. The ushers and bridesmaids had paired off, a redhead to each pairing...**

**"The red in the poem," Remus said slowly. "The red that's actually orange. Could that mean red hair?"**

Ron beamed. "I think it does!"

**"You know, I think it could," Danger said, following his line of sight. "But that's something to worry about tomorrow."**

**As they lost themselves again in the music, Remus couldn't help wishing, just a little, that tomorrow would never come.**

Neenie sighed. "Why did it have to end there?" she grumbled as Ron passed the book to Meghan.


	6. Laying Plans

There seemed to be no boundaries in the room anymore; everyone was leaning forward to hear what happened next.

Meghan was almost too excited to read, but she managed to calm herself down enough to read so everyone could understand. "Laying plans," she began.

**Remus Lupin awoke slowly, wondering why he felt so odd, whose hand was wrapped around his, and what, in general, was going on. The sight of moonlight flooding in through a window did not help.**

_**It's full moon tonight. I should still be a wolf. Shouldn't I?**_

"Didn't Danger...?" Draco mused aloud.

**He looked down at himself.**

**_Oh. I _am _still a wolf. _**

_**But I can think. My mind is human. I won't attack anyone.**_

_**I can handle that. I guess.**_

_**Damn sight better than the alternative.**_

**Danger lay beside him, holding one of his front paws, her chest rising and falling in the even rhythms of sleep.**

_**Well, she said the neighborhood gossips would have us sleeping together within two days. Though I doubt this is what she meant!**_

Everyone in the room laughed at that.

"No kidding," Ron snorted.

_**I wonder, does this only work when she's touching me, or does one touch last all night?**_

**Carefully, he withdrew his paw from her grasp, forcing himself to stay off balance. _If I lose control and go wolf again, I'll fall on her. I may wake her up, but better that than kill her!_**

Neenie giggled. "Wow, Moony."

**Nothing happened. Remus sagged in relief. _She was right. She's a werewolf tamer. _**

_**I wonder what the theorists will make of her.**_

_**Assuming they ever hear about her.**_

"Good point," Draco added.

**He sniffed. Scents exploded into his nose – dust, food, mice, humans – he could smell Danger's own personal scent, and Harry's, and Neenie's, and his own from before the transformation. His human sense of smell was more keen than other people's, but the wolf's nose was incredibly sharp. He could even tell how long it had been since she had held either child.**

_**She held Neenie only about two hours ago? That doesn't make sense... unless...**_

Neenie rolled her eyes. "Of course I get to sit in the car until now. Unnoticed."

Draco grinned at her. "It could be worse; Danger could've brought you in with her."

Everyone shuddered at the thought of what could happen.

**He went into the living room and shoved a window open with nose and paws, something the werewolf wasn't intelligent enough to do on its own, so he didn't have to safeguard against it. Out the window he went, down the lawn to the truck parked in the street.**

**_Sure enough, Hermione's in there. Asleep still, but she's wet, so she may not sleep much longer._ He wrinkled his nose. That was quite a penetrating odor.**

Everyone howled with laughter as Neenie covered her red face.

_**I should get Danger to bring her in. It's not exactly safe to let her sleep in the truck all night.**_

_**But she would have been a lot safer there than in the house two hours ago!**_

**Enjoying his newfound freedom, he leapt lightly back in through the window and gently nudged Danger with his nose until she startled awake.**

**"What? What is it?" She blinked owlishly at him for a moment and rubbed her eyes, reorienting herself. "So, how do you feel?"**

Neville rolled his eyes. "Why ask a werewolf that can't respond?"

**Remus smiled wolf-style, opening his mouth and panting happily. _Good. Wonderful. Better than great. I can never tell you how much this means to me._**

"And why is he responding even though she can't know what he said?" Draco added.

**"So quit telling me, then. Why'd you wake me up anyway?"**

"She did not..." Ron trailed off, shocked.

_**You're awfully grouchy at night.**_

"I think she did!" Harry blinked rapidly in surprise.

**"No, _you're_ too damn cheerful."**

Neenie laughed. "That sounds so much like my sister."

_**Wait a minute. I'm not talking aloud – I can't talk aloud in this form. How are you hearing me?**_

"Very carefully, of course," Ginny laughed.

**"You're right." Danger stopped. "I wonder..."**

"Go ahead and try it; you're probably right," Luna said dreamily.

**Can you hear this? said her voice in Remus' mind.**

**Remus jumped a little. Yes. Loud and clear.**

**This is very interesting. I wonder if it's left over from the shared dream?**

**At least we won't have to do charades to get the point across.**

Everyone laughed at the image... but...

"What's charades?" Draco asked, confused.

Ron stared at him incredulously. "You act out something without saying something to get the other people to guess what the word is."

"Oh."

**What point?**

**Neenie's wet.**

**Oh my God, Neenie! I left her in the truck!**

**Well, I wouldn't have recommended bringing her in when you got here, Remus said. But now, I'd say it's a good idea.**

**Danger was already halfway out the door.**

"Way to listen," Draco said sarcastically.

**After Neenie had been changed, a process during which she never really woke up, and put back to sleep on a folded blanket on the living room floor, Remus curled himself up next to her and Danger lay down on the couch.**

**So, did you dream what I dreamed? Danger asked.**

**A wedding?**

Harry tilted his head. "You know, I think I could see that," he said finally.

**Yep. The same dream I had two nights ago, before I met you. Only this time, the knowing went both ways – I knew your life, and you knew mine.**

**It was incredible. I feel as if I've known you for years.**

**So do I.Danger rolled onto her stomach and looked down at him.And I meant what I said. While we were dancing.**

**Remus met her eyes. So did I.**

**A silence followed, but not exactly an uncomfortable one – more like the silence of two people digesting a big idea simultaneously.**

This was the same silence that blanketed the room, except it was 7 people (the 8th being the reader) rather than two. No one wanted to break it for some silly comment at the moment.

**_Because that's what it is. I know I need a little time to get my mind around this amazing thing called love,_ Remus thought, carefully to himself only. _And these astounding people who love me._ He looked affectionately at Neenie, sound asleep and, of course, sucking her thumb. _I would imagine Danger needs to do the same._**

**So, did you write to Aletha yet?Danger asked after a little while.**

**This morning. She should answer by tomorrow. Well, today, now.**

**That's great. Harry was asking for her, and you, and "Pa-foot" all day. You spoiled him; he's not happy with just me and Neenie anymore, Danger teased.**

**I don't think you could spoil that boy no matter what you did to him.**

Ron shook his head in exasperation at Harry's personality.

**The Dursleys are certainly trying their hardest, Danger said with a sigh.**

**Let's not talk about them, not tonight. I have a question I need to ask you.**

**Yes?**

**When are we really going to get married?**

**Five seconds of total silence, verbal and mental, followed this.**

**You know, if anyone had told me about this a year ago, I would have thought they were nuts, Danger said finally.**

Everyone cracked a grin, unwilling to break the silence.

**Same here. I probably would have believed more of it than you would, but I still wouldn't have believed all of it. And you're avoiding the question.**

**Don't push me.Danger stared at the ceiling.Tell me this, she said. If we got married, you'd be reliably tame on your wolf nights, because I'd be with you. We'd have a stable home, two loving parents – more or less – and a child around. Is there a chance we'd get custody of Harry, if we asked?**

**That's a good question.Remus thought about it for a moment. A chance, he said finally. But not much more than that. There might be magical reasons why he's safer with his relatives that would negate any arguments we might make.**

**Safer from what?Danger demanded tartly. Safer from getting hit?**

**Getting _hit?_ Are they abusing him?**

Everyone tackled Harry in a hug. Harry groaned at the weight of everyone, but he was patient as he waited for them to finish their hugging.

**I have no tangible evidence, but I think so. He flinched today when I swung my hand up in the air. No normal child does that.**

**Remus growled. For a moment, he felt the wolf mind stir within his own. _Kill... kill... blood from those who harm the cub..._**

**Danger placed her hand on the back of his head, and the feelings subsided.**

**Thanks.**

**Don't mention it.**

**So, you still haven't answered my question, Remus said, trying to get the conversation back onto a lighter note.**

**Trust me, I want to, Danger replied with a melancholy tone to her mental voice.If this were all about us, I'd say I want to get married tomorrow. I _do_ want to get married tomorrow. But it's not just about us. It's about a little boy we both love, who's not getting what he needs. We're adults – we can do pretty much what we please. He's helpless. We should think about him first, before ourselves.**

**I stand corrected. Or lie corrected. Or whatever. Harry comes first. Remus yawned enormously. And I think we should continue this conversation in the morning.**

**Works for me. Danger yawned in her turn, then wiggled around for a moment until she was lying on her stomach, one arm dangling from the couch, hand resting on Remus' back. In case you feel wolfish during the night, she explained.**

**I appreciate that.**

**Good, because actually I just want an excuse to be close to you. Danger giggled, both mentally and aloud.**

**And I _really_ appreciate that, Remus said, allowing his own amusement to bleed into the link between them. Sleep well.**

**You too.**

* * *

**The raft floated on down the river. Harry seemed to grow heavier in Remus' lap, and when he looked down, he saw that the boy was growing, aging before his eyes. Already he had the look of a three-year-old. Neenie was growing as well, to Danger's obvious surprise.**

"Another dream," Draco commented.

**Sirius held out his hands to Aletha, who took them in hers with a smile. A moment later, when they let go, Aletha had a pearl in her hand. It was larger than any Remus had ever seen and shimmered with the play of the sunlight on it. She cradled it to her tenderly.**

**Danger shifted Neenie to the raft beside her as the girl continued to grow. She and Harry were losing the awkwardness of toddlers and taking on the more shapely forms of young children. Remus noticed that Harry's resemblance to his father was getting more pronounced as the boy grew older.**

**A wordless cry attracted everyone's attention. A woman was swimming toward them with a tiny dragon on her back. She was being pursued by a man, his face twisted with anger. Her expression was pleading.**

**Sirius reached out and took the dragonet from her, lifting it onto their raft. The woman smiled at them for a moment, then turned and swam at her pursuer, striking at him with her hands and feet. They sank together in the middle of the river, and there was no more trace of them.**

**The dragonet curled up in Sirius' lap, shivering. After a few moments in the sun, though, it stretched and yawned, displaying its beautiful scales for everyone to see. Each adult stroked its back once or twice, and it hummed with pleasure.**

_**I suppose this is another dream. It certainly doesn't make much sense. But it is quite peaceful, rather enjoyable in its way...**_

**Danger smiled at him from across the raft. He smiled back.**

_**Scratch that. Very enjoyable.**_

**He closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the sun soak into him...**

* * *

**Remus Lupin awoke all at once, in possession of several interesting facts.**

**First off, it was morning, and he was human again. While this usually delighted him, he was usually alone when it happened. On this particular day, an extremely attractive (to him, at least) human woman was asleep on his couch. Her hand was actually resting on his skin. While he enjoyed the sensation very much, the fact that he was not wearing any clothes might make the situation more than a little awkward if she were to wake up suddenly.**

**Added to this, a sleeping position which is comfortable for a wolf might not be such for a human.**

_**I think my cramps have cramps.**_

A few people chuckled.

**And thirdly, someone had just rung his doorbell.**

**He looked around and spotted a spare blanket which he pulled quickly over himself – just in time, as Danger stirred to the second ringing of the doorbell. "Mmmm?" she said sleepily.**

**"Someone's at the door," Remus said.**

**"So answer it."**

**"I can't. I'm not dressed."**

**Danger's eyes shot open, and she surveyed him. "Oh."**

Neenie rolled her eyes. "That's definitely my sister. Oh indeed."

**"Will you get it?"**

**"I don't live here."**

**"Whoever is at the door doesn't need to know that. Just tell them I'm in the bathroom and I'll be right down."**

**"Will you?"**

**"Be right down? Yes. Will you close your eyes for a moment, please?"**

**"You asked me to marry you last night, now all of a sudden you're shy?"**

**"We're not married yet." Remus waited until she had her eyes tightly closed before quickly wrapping the blanket around his waist like a towel. "I'll be right back."**

**He hurried up the stairs, limping a little, as Danger called, "Coming!" to the person at the door.**

**He was in his bedroom when he heard the squeals of a feminine greeting ritual. "Oh, I haven't seen you in so _long!_" rose from below, in two-part harmony.**

The boys chuckled, but then recoiled as all the girls (minus Luna) glared at them.

_**Who in the world – oh. It must be Aletha. **_

_**She came herself instead of owling back? I did get her attention.**_

_**Maybe I'll take a little longer than I actually need to – they've got a lot of catching up to do.**_

**By the time he made it downstairs, the squealing had subsided, and Aletha was making friends with Neenie.**

**"Remus," she said in greeting, shaking his hand. "I didn't expect to find you hanging around with this little barrel of trouble."**

**"Oh, you're a fine one to talk," Danger said. "Who put the frog in Mrs. Walsh's mailbox?"**

**"Yeah, well, who glued five 50p coins to the sidewalk?"**

Ron stared at Neenie. "...Are you sure you're related to her?"

Meghan giggled as she smacked him.

**It seemed likely that they could, and would, go on all day. Remus intervened. "Would anyone care for breakfast?"**

**"Not if you're cooking," Aletha said frankly.**

**"I'll cook," Danger said. "What do you have around?"**

**Pancakes were duly decided on and made. Everyone was halfway through a second serving when Aletha asked, "So what's this about Harry?"**

Harry rolled his eyes. "Why does it always have to be about me?" he asked the ceiling.

**Remus and Danger looked at each other.**

**"You start," Remus said, helping himself to another pancake.**

**Danger explained where Harry was living, with whom, and what was wrong with that. Aletha appeared to be taking it all very calmly, but Remus noticed that she was slowly shredding her paper napkin in her lap.**

"She's furious," Meghan informed them all. "She never shows her anger when she's furious, she takes it out on other things."

**Remus took over, explaining what Danger had dreamed, and how he knew it was true. When he got to the part about Wormtail, not Sirius, being the traitor, he got a chance to see what his face must have looked like when Danger told him about her talent in their dream last night. Aletha's expression varied from astonishment, to joy, to incredulous hope and lingered there. She looked as if he had just handed her the greatest desire of her heart.**

Meghan grinned happily.

_**Maybe I did. She loved – loves – Sirius. And I've just told her he's not the murdering traitor she's had to think he is for six months. That sounds like something worth having.**_

**"Now I have to tell you something about me," Remus said. "It's why Peter and James and Sirius became Animagi. I'm..." It was still hard to tell, but Danger squeezed his hand, and he took the plunge. "I'm a werewolf."**

**"Werewolf?" Aletha repeated, her eyes wide.**

**"There wolf," Danger said in a guttural voice. "There castle."**

Neville blinked. "What?"

**Aletha stared at both of them for a moment, then cracked a smile. "Why are you talking like that?"**

**"I thought you wanted me to," Danger said.**

**"No, I don't want you to," said Aletha.**

**"Suit yourself, I'm easy," chorused Danger and Remus, and all three of them started laughing.**

**Thank you, Remus said privately to Danger. That could have been much worse.**

**I don't think so. She knows you, she trusts you. You haven't changed just because she's found out something new about you.**

**You'd be surprised how many people don't think like that. Remus was surprised himself, at how bitter he sounded in his mind.**

Draco winced. "I think I owe him an apology," he muttered.

**Forget them, Danger said emphatically. I love you, Neenie and Harry love you, and Letha at least trusts you. Look at her. She doesn't look scared or on edge. She's as comfortable around you as she was ten minutes ago.**

**"It's actually a relief to know," Aletha said, ignorant of the silent exchange. "I always wondered where you'd go for a couple days out of every month. Now I know. Besides, werewolves aren't dangerous when it's not full moon, are they – ah, you?"**

**"No." Remus grinned, realizing that he could add something to that. "And actually, I'm not dangerous at full moon any more, either."**

**"Pardon?"**

**They explained about Danger's unusual abilities. Aletha was duly impressed, and let Danger try out her wand. Danger generated more sparks with Aletha's than she had with Remus', something which, strangely, made Remus feel a little jealous.**

Everyone let out a chuckle or giggle at the thought.

**_The wand chooses the wizard,_ he reminded himself. _Or the witch._**

**But it still annoyed him.**

**"So, the way I see it, we have two things we need to do as soon as we possibly can," Aletha said. "We have to get Sirius out of Azkaban, and we have to get Harry out of that house."**

**"What about finding Wormtail?" Remus objected.**

Neenie snorted at the reference that could be made from adding a third thing to the list like that.

**"All right, make that three things. But I don't see that there's any easy way to do that. I mean, yes, we have the poem, and we know that he's somewhere around red-haired people. If that's even the right way to read it. But there are thousands of red-haired people in the world, and he could be anywhere. I think we're going to have to let that one go for the time being."**

**"How do you suggest we free Sirius, then, if not by finding Wormtail?" Remus asked.**

**"Well, there's two ways to do it. Legally, or extralegally. Legally, without Wormtail, it would be difficult to prove Sirius didn't kill those people."**

"No kidding," Neville commented, then looked surprised he said anything at all.

**"Difficult? Try impossible," Danger objected, cutting some more pancake for Neenie. "You can't prove a negative."**

**"You know what I mean," Aletha growled, shoving her friend playfully. "But you're right. It will be damn near impossible. So that leaves extralegally."**

**"Breaking him out," Remus said. "_That's_ supposed to be impossible."**

Harry groaned. "And here comes the reference to me..."

**"It was supposed to be impossible to defeat You-Know-Who," Aletha pointed out. "And Harry Potter didn't have a contact in the Ministry with high security clearances. You do. I can get information about Azkaban that the average witch on the street can't get. Such as where it is, and how to get there."**

**"But the dementors would notice an extra person walking around the prison, wouldn't they?" Remus asked. "I mean, they're soulless, but they're not stupid."**

**"No, what they are is blind," Aletha said, her face taut in concentration. "I have an idea. Just the beginning of an idea. Let me talk it out for a second."**

Everyone leaned in, eager to hear if anything would be solved.

**She got up and began to pace around. "The dementors are blind. They get around by hearing, and by sensing people's emotions. People's emotions. They can tell where people are by their emotions. Where human beings are. Human emotions. Human."**

**"What about animals?" Danger said suddenly. "Can they sense animal emotions?"**

**"I don't know," Aletha said slowly, looking up from her reverie. "I do – not – know. Hmm. Animal emotions. Do animals have emotions?"**

"Yes," everyone chorused.

**"Haven't you ever seen a dog when its dinner is late?" Remus asked. "Trust me, animals have emotions. They're different than human emotions, though – not as advanced..."**

**"So maybe the dementors wouldn't sense an animal," Danger said. "Or not as easily."**

**Aletha nodded. "So an animal could get in, but I don't see..."**

Neenie and Draco sprang up at the same time. "I got it!" They flashed a look of surprise at each other.

**"A full moon," Remus said, snapping his fingers. "I'll go. During a full moon. While I'm the wolf. They won't sense me, because I'm an animal, but I'll have my human mind, so I'll be able to avoid them. And Sirius can avoid them as Padfoot."**

**"That's it." Aletha pounded her fist into her palm jubilantly. "That is it. That is the thought I was chasing. You two, between you, got it before I did." She grinned. "I would say, offhand, that we make a good team."**

Everyone nodded fervently.

**"Me too," Danger said strongly. "What kind of locks do they have on the doors there? Is it a simple catch, something you could undo with your paws, Remus, or are they key locks? Those would be hard to open without hands."**

**"That's what I can find out," Aletha said. "I'll do some research tomorrow."**

**The excitement in the room was almost tangible. Remus could scent it, even with his limited human sense of smell. "What about Harry?" he said.**

**"Harry's easy," Danger said, waving a negligent hand. "In and out, just take him and vanish. If we're going to liberate a criminal, we're going to need to hide out anyway, so we might as well hide two people as one."**

Neville laughed and shook his head.

**"True enough," Aletha said. "Have to give some thought to where to hide them, and how. Everyone'll be looking for Sirius, and Harry, as soon as it gets out that they're gone."**

**"Sirius has a perfect disguise," Remus said. "No one except James, Peter, and I knew he was an Animagus. Harry will be a bit more difficult."**

**"Have to dye his hair or something," Danger said. She looked speculatively at Remus' brown hair. "Wait a second. Aletha, look at us." She waved at herself, Neenie, and Remus. "We look like a family to you?"**

**"Sure thing," Aletha said, nodding thoughtfully. "If Harry had brown hair, he could pass for Neenie's brother. Non-identical twins, whatever they're called."**

**"Fraternal." Remus felt almost buoyant. "Just a married couple, their children – fraternal twins – and the family dog. Nothing unusual about that, is there?"**

"This is perfect!" Harry grinned.

Ginny laughed. "You do realize that this means you'll grow up with Hermione, right?"

Harry gave her a stricken look of panic.

**"All you'd need is a house somewhere, or an apartment," Aletha said. "Might be tough to find one that's pet and child friendly, though. Rents can be pretty steep."**

**"If we can spring Sirius, money will not be a problem," Remus said, grinning. "As long as you have the right key, the goblins don't care whose vault you're accessing. And they don't tell anyone anything."**

**"Goblins?" Danger asked. "I don't think we covered this."**

**Aletha began to explain about Gringotts and goblins and wizarding finance in general. Danger listened intently while washing syrup off Neenie's hands and face. Remus sat back and luxuriated in the amazing changes his life had taken over the past two days.**

_**Let's see. I have control over a part of me I've never been able to control before. I've acquired a wife and two children who love me – just getting into the terrible twos, but we'll deal with that – and I've regained two friends. **_

_**Even if one of them is currently trapped in hell on earth.**_

**He winced. Thinking of Sirius, in Azkaban for a crime he hadn't committed, was painful, to say the least.**

_**But at least now we know he's innocent, and we're going to do something about it.**_

_**Hold on, Sirius. We're coming.**_

_**Just hold on.**_

"I can't believe it!" Harry exalted. "I don't live with the Dursleys here! Sweet!"

Neenie chuckled. "And I get to bully you."

Ron laughed loudly. "Oh, I'd love to see you two grow up together."

The two exchanged a look and then some paint dumped itself on Ron's head, giving him the look of a strangely designed rainbow. Feathers floated down on top. 

He let out a sigh.


	7. Preparations

******A/n: In this story, it is only the Pride who gets to read the stories. No one else will join, but there will be visits from Alex and the 'others' occasionally. I am undecided on what to do with Lucius, but I'm leaning more towards him being evil, but if you have a way for him to go good, I'm willing to try it.**

After the snickers at Ron's appearance died down, Neville picked up the book nervously. He hoped his voice did not shake when he started to read.

**The doorbell of Number Four Privet Drive rang. Petunia Dursley looked up, startled. "Oh, I have to go, someone's at the door," she said into the phone. "I'll call you later, dear, don't worry."**

"She gossips way too much," Neenie complained. "How can any one stand her?"

"I grew used to it," Harry stated dryly.

"Sorry...Forgot."

**She opened the door and put on her best smile. _The Granger slut, how interesting. Maybe I can find out where she went last night, and why she never came back..._ "Why, Gertrude, how nice to see you, dear!"**

Everyone snorted in perfect unison.

"Seriously?" Harry shook his head.

"Hello, Mrs. Dursley. Neenie and I were wondering if Harry could come over to play."

**"Yes, of course. Just a moment, I'll get him ready." Petunia shut the door quickly. It wouldn't do to have the nosy girl see where they kept the brat.**

All the boys looked at each other nervously before backing away from the growling emitting from the girls.

Ron stared at them. "Please stop... it's scary..." he begged.

The girls looked at him (even Luna) and they did stop, to his relief. Then they started laughing. He groaned.

**She opened the door of the cupboard under the stairs. Her nephew looked up, startled. "Come along, Harry," she said in a sweet voice, in case the slut was listening. "Time to go out and play."**

**The boy blinked at her in bemusement. She stifled a sigh. _I don't think he understands a word I say to him. Probably retarded._**

"No, just doesn't understand why you're acting nice!" Ginny retorted.

Harry blinked, but smiled softly at her. It was nice that she was finally relaxing and letting him get to know her... and she was definitely a person he wanted as a friend...

**She lifted him out of the crib and set him on the bottom step, slid a pair of Dudley's outgrown shoes onto his feet, and fetched his coat from the floor of the cupboard. "All ready to go, now," she said sweetly as she opened the door again.**

"I bet it sounded false to my sister," Neenie stated, crossing her arms.

**"Dayger!" Harry jumped up and ran to the girl, who scooped him off his feet and landed him expertly on her hip.**

**"Hello, Greeneyes," she said, ruffling his hair. "When should I have him home?"**

**"Can you give him lunch today, dear, or do you have to work late again?"**

**"Again?"**

**"Yes, we saw you go out last night. What in heaven's name had you running off like that at such an hour?"**

"Oh, nothing, just a dream that ended up coming true," Meghan stated airily.

**"I had a phone call from a friend who needed some help unexpectedly, that's all."**

"She lied," Ron stated.

"No, really?" Draco told him sarcastically.

**"No emergency, I hope?"**

**"No, everything's quite all right now. Thank you for asking." The girl put a delicate emphasis on the last few words that Petunia was sure meant_ Mind your own business._ She was intrigued. People seldom reacted so rudely unless they had something to hide.**

"Well, duh. But that doesn't mean you can pry," Harry stated dryly.

**"You're welcome, dear. Now about luncheon..."**

**"I think I can manage lunch for him. Shall we say five o'clock then?"**

**"Five it is. Thank you so much, you're such a good neighbor to watch him like this."**

**"Oh, you're _quite_ welcome," the girl said, possibly with a bit of sarcasm. Petunia couldn't be sure.**

Absolute silence. First Meghan started giggling, then Neenie and Ginny, then then Harry and Draco started snickering and it wasn't long before Neville joined in the full-out laughter that was brewing.

**She watched from behind the curtains as the girl walked down the front steps with her nephew, talking to him. Then she put him down and watched as he raced along the sidewalk to meet –_ well, well. How interesting_. Two_ other people._**

**A dark-skinned woman went down on one knee to meet the little boy's rush, and a brown-haired man – she couldn't be sure at this distance, but he looked like the same one she had surprised in the slut's kitchen two days before – stood beside them with the Granger child in his arms.**

**_Hermione. Gertrude's "sister"._ Petunia snorted. _As if that's not the oldest trick in the book. If that child's her sister, I'm a toad. And that might very well be the father, right there. Finally decided to come back and pay a visit, has he?_**

Neenie groaned. "I've seen pictures of my mum when she was pregnant with me. Danger was in that picture. She was obviously not pregnant while Mum was."

"Calm down, it's not Neville's fault," Ron told her, as she was glaring at the book and therefore, at Neville.

"Sorry," she huffed as she settled back down on the couch, having sat up straight. She turned to Ron. "Thank y-" she started laughing, since she forgot that he looked that ridiculous. This resulted in renewed laughter at his state of being.

Ron crossed his arms and glowered, though, for some reason, it just made him look like he was pouting. Everyone laughed harder at his expression. The dream room took pity on him and removed the paint and feathers. He sighed in relief.

**It had a convincing sound.**

Neenie growled under her breath.

"It's not like people really care about the truth that people say, since usually it's obscured by nargles."

**With Gertrude being twenty years older, and no intervening children, there had been speculation on the true parentage of Hermione Granger since the day she was born, conveniently while the family was vacationing in Scotland. And even as Petunia watched, Gertrude caught up with Harry and embraced the man in greeting, taking the little girl from him. The dark woman stood up with Harry in her arms, and the five of them walked off towards the Grangers'.**

**Petunia hurried back to the phone. She had so much more to tell dear Mrs. Harrison than she had planned...**

Neenie leaped out of her seat and opened her mouth to shout before realizing... "It's just a book," she reassured herself out loud.

Everyone else, including Luna and Draco, exchanged looks of mirth but quickly glanced away before they lost it, not wanting to risk her wrath.

* * *

******"Second breakfast, anyone?" Danger said as she handed Neenie back to Remus and unlocked the door.**

**"Feeling a little hobbitish today?" Aletha teased.**

"Why is it 'hobbitish'?" Draco wondered to Neenie, but she didn't answer.

Harry did. "It's from a muggle book and the trilogy that followed it. Hobbits were small creatures that had what 7? 12? meals a day."

Noticing everyone's looks, he frowned. "What? It was one of the many books Dudley had and never bothered to read- too many words."

Ginny shook her head. "Wow, even my brother would read some of them."

"Hey!"

"Or give it away," Neenie added.

"What is it, pick on Ron day?" he complained.

**"Well, I'm feeding Harry at any rate. I doubt he's eaten yet today."**

**"Don't be silly, it's past 10. Why wouldn't they have fed him?"**

**"Because," Danger led the way to the kitchen, "they hardly ever remember him unless he cries." She flicked the lights on. "And then they punish him for crying, with the most common punishment being, no meals."**

**"How can they punish a two-year-old for crying?" Aletha asked in bewilderment. "It doesn't make any sense."**

**"Sometimes babies just have to cry," Luna stated offhandedly. "It doesn't even just have to be because of food or other needs, though Harry has more reason than most.**

Neenie looked thoughtful. "I don't think the scientists have thought of that."

"Scientists?" chorused Ginny, Ron, Neville, and Draco.

Harry and Hermione shook their heads.

"Too many fields involved to explain now, maybe later," stated Harry.

**"Don't look for sense out of the Dursleys," Danger said, rooting through the pantry. "The end result is, he only gets fed about once a day. Twice if he's lucky. Why do you think he's so skinny?"**

**"Lord, he is," Aletha said worriedly, poking Harry in the side, disguising it as a tickle and making him laugh. "I can feel his ribs. I think I could count them if he had his shirt off. What kind of people would do that?"**

**"They hate magic," Remus said, sitting down with Neenie on his lap. "They hate anything they see as abnormal, and they fear being labeled as abnormal themselves by being involved with it. They may be hoping to squash Harry's magic somehow."**

**"Well, that's not going to work," Aletha said, putting Harry in his high chair. "Kids do more accidental magic when they're unhappy, not less. Do these Dursleys know anything about child-raising at all?"**

Neenie snorted. "No they don't if Dudley is anything to go by."

Neville began to read again, but stopped, chuckling.

**"Judging by their son, I would say... no."**

"So you are like your sister after all!" Ron exclaimed. Neenie smacked him with a blank book that appeared out of nowhere.

**Danger started spreading peanut butter on crackers. "Letha, would you get him some juice? It's in the fridge, and sippy cups are in the second cabinet here... thanks."**

**Aletha did as she was asked, handing Harry the sippy cup with an octopus painted on the side.**

**"So what is Harry's cousin like?" Remus asked, bouncing Neenie on his knees. "Other than mean."**

**"That sums him up pretty well, actually," Danger said loudly as Harry banged his sippy cup against the high chair tray, yelling in time with the noise. "Big, fat, spoiled, and mean."**

**She tipped the peanut butter crackers onto Harry's tray, and the banging ceased abruptly as he grabbed for them.**

**"He eats like he's starving," Remus noted quietly.**

Out of nowhere, a bunch of food on a long table appeared. All of the teens besides Harry looked sheepish.

Ginny spoke first, hesitantly. "I can't bear hearing about you being mistreated like that, but you do still eat a bit like you'll never see food again, so I thought we should eat now."

There were nods of agreement and shocked looks that all of them had thought the same.

Harry grinned in amusement. "Thanks, guys." He stood up and piled his plate with a variety of food before looking back at all of them. "Come on, I can't eat all of this by myself."

That was all it took for Ron and Draco to spring up and start gathering food for themselves. The rest followed a more sedate pace as they snickered quietly.

Neville propped up the book on a music stand that appeared and began to read again, this time sneaking bites of food in between words. Everyone silently agreed to forgo the interruptions until they were done eating; they did not want to get sprayed by food.

**"There are a lot of times I wish I wasn't right." Danger sat down at the table. "This is one of them." Neenie slid off Remus' lap and pattered around to her sister, climbing onto her lap and cuddling up to her.**

**"So we're agreed," Aletha said. "We have to get him away from those people."**

**Danger nodded. "Agreed."**

**"Yes, agreed," said Remus. "But we have to have a plan. We can't just take him and run, as tempting as it is."**

**"Like we were saying earlier, someplace to go. Someplace they'd never think to look." Aletha sighed. "My place would be perfect, except it'd be the first place they'd go. After yours, Remus. Did you even know Harry was here?"**

**"No. Not until I met Danger in the park the other day. You?"**

**Aletha shook her head. "I don't think anyone knew. Dumbledore kept it pretty close."**

**"And you know why," Remus said, looking at Harry, who had eaten five of the crackers and was smashing the sixth with his sippy cup.**

**"He was afraid we'd do exactly what we're doing. Take him ourselves."**

**"But if his aunt and uncle had only been decent," Aletha began, "we would never have interfered..." A horrible thought crossed her mind.**

**"Do you think he _knows_?"**

**"He can't," Remus said firmly. "He would never let Harry get hurt. He might well know they're not happy about the idea of magic, but I can't believe he would know about Harry being starved or locked up and not do something about it."**

**"He should have been a little more observant, then," Aletha said angrily. "At least have someone in the area, someone to watch over him and make sure he's all right."**

**"These things take time to arrange," Danger noted. "You can't buy a house overnight. Maybe his observer's just not here yet."**

**"Well, that's not good enough." Aletha was starting to get really angry. "What if they start abusing him? What if they start beating him up? We can't wait. We have to do something now!"**

**"We are doing something," Remus said calmly. "Several things. First, we're making plans about what to do next. Second, we're making sure Harry gets at least semi-regular meals. Third, we're giving him time to be a normal child, with people who love him. Besides, the person with the true authority on what should happen to Harry isn't here."**

**"Who's that?" Danger asked.**

**"Sirius. Sirius was – he _is_ – Harry's godfather, and the guardian James and Lily appointed. They wanted to make you his godmother, Letha, but you were out of touch on some secret mission or other. So if – when – we free Sirius and take Harry, we'll be respecting Lily and James' wishes about their son."**

**Aletha nodded, her anger dissipating in admiration. "Are you always this sneaky?" she asked.**

**"Only when I need to be," Remus said with a smile.**

There were chuckles from around the room as everyone continued to eat.

"That was clever," Neenie admitted before taking another bite.

Most of them were already on seconds and Ron had gone back for thirds.

**The phrase touched off a recent memory in Aletha's brain._ I need to be getting out of here... this city's driving me bonkers..._**

**A plan unfolded in front of her so suddenly that she yelled, startling both children. "Got it!"**

**"What?" Remus and Danger asked in unison.**

**"I live in a mostly Muggle part of London, in a duplex. The owner has the other half, and he's trying to sell it. Claims London is driving him mad. But it's a big, kind of old and creaky house, so no one really wants it. If we all went in on it, maybe we could buy it. Then we'd have the entire house to ourselves, no one to bother us."**

**"If I sold this place..." Danger stared at the ceiling. "This is a desirable neighborhood. I could probably get a decent price. And I've been thinking about moving for a while."**

**"I'm in," Remus said. "My house isn't in the best of shape, but some people like to renovate. With the money from two sales, I'd say we could probably do it."**

**"And there's our place to go," Aletha said, grinning. "I'll spend my savings to buy the building – consider it an investment – and rent the other half to a nice couple with two kids and a dog. Danger, how soon can you be ready to go?"**

**"Depends on how soon I can get the house sold," Danger said. For the first time since Aletha had seen her, the mischievous side she had showed as a child blossomed in her face. Then it was swamped by a wave of worry. "What about Harry? If I leave, he's back with the Dursleys full time."**

**The boy in question carefully dropped his cup over the side of his high chair. Aletha picked it up for him.**

**"Only for a week or two," Remus said. "Only until we get settled in the house, and people get used to seeing us around. Then we come back for him."**

Meghan groaned as she set her plate on the ground, where it disappeared. She was the third to finish eating. Luna and Neenie had already finished. Harry had also finished but everyone decided to force him to eat until he literally couldn't anymore. It was a good thing most of the food was healthy.

**"Why wait?" Danger asked as Harry tossed his cup to the floor again. "Don't keep giving it back to him," she advised Aletha. "He can keep that up all night."**

**"So we have an alibi," said Remus. "When the Ministry goes looking for Harry Potter, they won't look at the little boy who's been living at Number 29 for two weeks now, because how could he be Harry Potter? Harry Potter was still with his aunt and uncle two weeks ago."**

"Hiding in plain sight," Luna observed with a dreamy smile.

**"But we won't have him when we move in," Danger objected.**

**"They don't need to know that," Remus pointed out. "If you say you have two children, no one's going to doubt you. Stay inside a lot the first two weeks, let them see Neenie once in a while, and they'll believe you. You can be the put-upon mother who has to go ahead to the new home and get it ready, with the children in tow. I'll be the lazy father who comes afterwards with the dog."**

**Aletha sighed happily. "And then I get to adopt the dog. Or the dog adopts me."**

**"Or the dog marries you," Danger said with a wink.**

There were groans all around as Ron spit out the rather huge mouthful of food he had. "I did not need to know that! Or that mental image!" he proclaimed, oblivious to the glares from everyone else.

He never noticed when his clothes were changed to silver and green, nor did he notice when his shoes became claws. His hair became yellow and black, and light blue stars appeared on his face. A tail appeared behind him, with a snake's head. His food disappeared. And finally, he grew a lion's mane.

Ron froze. "Please take this off?" he pleaded.

All the teens shook their heads, smirking when a camera appeared so they could take a picture.

"I'm sorry for spraying food!" Ron shouted, but was met with laughter and shakes of the head. He huffed and leaned back into the couch, pouting.

**Aletha laughed. "Now that, we'd better not tell the neighbors about!"**

* * *

**Danger twisted the ring on her finger with a smile._ I almost don't believe it. I'm married. And married to a man I only met two weeks ago._**

"That's fast," Neenie commented.

Harry frowned. "If they were still on Privet Drive, Aunt Petunia would have said that he got her pregnant."

Everyone groaned and then Ginny slapped the back of Harry's head.

"You will never refer to that woman as your aunt again... Got it?" she told him sternly.

He nodded quickly.

**_But I know him as well as I know myself. And I'm certain that he loves me._**

**_And besides, he's cute._**

Everyone in the room made a face except for Luna.

**They had filled out the necessary forms and produced the correct documents (some of them had to be forged in a hurry, but with magic, that was no trouble) and gone before a judge yesterday, with Aletha as their witness, and now "John and Kelly White" were legally married. It was nothing like the elaborate wedding they had dreamed of, but it would do.**

"You do realize that we have to get Remus and Danger together now, don't you?" Meghan commented to the room, but mostly to Neenie.

Everyone agreed in varying ways.

**_And we have our place to go_. Aletha's landlord had been overjoyed to find a buyer for his admittedly old and rather drafty house. Aletha had put up all the money for the purchase herself so it could go through right away, with the understanding that Remus and Danger would pay her their shares as soon as they got the money. "And there's no hurry," Aletha had said on the phone. "He was so happy to get rid of it that he sold it to me dirt cheap. He's leaving on 26 March, so you can move in any time after that."**

**Danger had had no trouble selling her house. A family called the Polkisses, with one son and another child on the way, had snapped it up the second day it was on the market, and the closing was in a week.**

**M_aybe their boy will make friends with Dudley,_ Danger thought idly. I_n fact, I hope he does. The Dursleys deserve a destructive little monster like him in their house._ Piers Polkiss had managed to rip down one of the curtains in the living room, despite being in the house for only five minutes, and his mother had apologized in a way that made it quite clear she thought it was Danger's fault for not putting them up better.**

Harry snorted and everyone turned to look at him in confusion

"Rat faced friend of Dudley's in our world," Harry explained to the rest of the room. "He holds people while Dudley beats them up."

Everyone stared as he shrugged.

_**Oh well, in two weeks it's their problem anyway.**_

**_Remus wasn't having quite as much luck. A couple of people had come by to look at his house, but so far he hadn't had any offers._**

**And if I don't, I'll just leave the door unlocked, and whoever finds it can have it, said his voice in her mind, making her think too loud, love.**

**You're spying, ****she retorted.**

**Am not.**

**Are too.**

"They sound like children!" Neenie exclaimed.

"And there's something wrong with that?" Ginny, Meghan, Ron, and Harry chorused.

She stared at them. "...I suppose not."

**You're broadcasting, beautiful. How am I supposed to avoid hearing you?**

**Oops. Sorry.**

**Not a problem.** **His mental touch caressed hers, as loving as an embrace. I'm touched that you consider me cute.**

"This is getting really mushy," Ron complained.

All the other boys exchanged exasperated looks as all the girls huffed.

Harry leaned over, and whispered, "Mate, girls LIKE that stuff."

"Oh..."

**Darn you, Remus, how long have you been listening?**

**Long enough. I'm coming over, I'll be there soon.**

**Is that a promise or a threat?**

**He laughed.** **Neither. Both. I'll see you in a few minutes**.

**Danger returned to her ruminations, being careful to think quietly.**

_**So. Today is Tuesday, 30 March. On 1 April, Neenie and I leave for London. With everything we own, even the furniture – even my truck! – in one suitcase. Isn't magic wonderful.**_

"Yep!" Everyone chorused.

**_And we're traveling by magic, too, so no one will see us go, or know which way we went. We could be going to America or just to the next block, and no one would know._**

**Remus and Harry would make the journey on the Knight Bus with them, so that their new neighbors would see the entire family together, including two children, and Danger would Floo back to Remus' house that night to return Harry and say goodbye to the Dursleys. _One more bit of confusion about when we left won't do any harm._**

**_And at least Harry won't be entirely alone._ The Dursleys had been less unhappy than Danger had thought they might when she told them she was moving. It seemed an older woman who lived in the area had recently contacted them about babysitting, and she charged less than Danger did_. Oh, heavens, what's her name? I can't think of it. Plum, or something fruity. Figg, that's it. Mrs. Figg. _She filed it to tell Remus.**  
_**So let me see. After we get there, we just bide our time for about two more weeks. And then, we strike.**_

"Now it sounds like a spy movie," Neenie commented.

"What's that?" Everyone asked.

"I'll explain later," she sighed.

_**The magical world is going to be reeling on 14 April. Two disappearances in one night.**_

"That will be funny to read about!" Meghan bounced in her seat.

**_Well, strictly speaking, Harry's going to disappear the night before. But if I know the Dursleys, word won't get to the magical world until the next day at the earliest. Possibly even later. Heck, the Dursleys won't even notice he's gone until sometime the next day!_**

"And unfortunately that's not an exasperation," Neenie and Ginny huffed, crossing their arms.

Harry turned red (well, redder) as he did every time someone became angry for him.

**_And just to make everyone really nervous, a burglary._ That was Aletha's part of the illegal work, and it would be accomplished at the Museum of Magical Curiosities in London. One of the curiosities they had on display was the "Wand of Sirius Black, with which he murdered..."**

_**I can see it now. Mass confusion. Everyone will want to know – are the crimes connected? How were they done? And in the chaos, Remus Lupin quietly disappears, and John White comes home to his wife Kelly and their children James and Jane, bringing their faithful dog Padfoot with him...**_

"It sounds cute," Meghan squealed.

**The doorbell rang, and thoughts of future contentment were lost in present bliss as Danger greeted her husband.**

**When she told him about Harry's new babysitter, he started laughing almost hysterically. It took him five minutes to calm down and explain that he knew Arabella Figg, that she was what the magical world called a Squib – from a magical family, but not magical herself – and that she was probably the observer they had postulated Dumbledore might send.**

**"And she's too late by far," Remus said almost gleefully, settling down on the couch and smiling as Danger sat beside him, draping his arm over her shoulders. "Neenie asleep?"**

**"Fast asleep and dreaming. She asked where you were before bed, though. Stay the night? She'll be happy to see you in the morning."**

**"And you won't?" he teased gently. "Did you only marry me for my pretty face?"**

"No, of course not. I married you because I love all of you. And that's your mind," she kissed his temple, "your heart," she kissed his chest, "and your body..."

It was quite some time before either of the newlyweds slept.

As the last of the chapter was read, there was a long pause. Everyone turned a little green.

"I did not need to know that!" Neenie and Harry exclaimed together, the greenest of the room. Everyone couldn't help but laugh at their expressions.

…  
**A/n Whew... Finally that's done. I don't know how people can do this so easily and update so fast. Wow, I'm on a role. A new story and a new chapter in one day! Whoo!**


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